Graveney Beekeeping

Started in 2002 with 1 hive (known as a colony) this has now expanded to 11. There have been many set backs along the way directly connected to the varroa mite. The problems caused by this mite take away the pleasure of beekeeping making it feel like a never ending battle.

The varroa mite enters the breeding cell of the honeybee and whilst the cell is capped it breeds and feeds on the developing bee. The result of this is that the new bee emerges damaged and can't fly or is so weakened that its life span is considerably reduced. Therefore the colony numbers fall and eventually collapes's leading to robbing of food by other bees and wasps.

What is there to know? The beekeeper is really just a host, providing shelter, space, food in the winter and a waterproof place to live; a hive. If the beekeeper fails they will leave, normally in one main swarm, and if really unlucky smaller swarms called casts will duly follow around April to May each year, and normally when one is at work!

The varroa mite can’t totally be eradicated only controlled by methods of skill along with the use of hard/soft chemicals. Some of the best treatments can only be carried out after the honey crop has been removed for fear of contamination, and therefore this is done at the end of the season.

With so much effort being put into tackling this mite, the beekeeper must remember to look out for all currently known problems associated with keeping bees and further pests which may arrive in the U.K. from further afield. Defra the Government body that was carrying out bee research has had its budget vastly reduced under the Labour Government and their top researchers’ post closed. This now puts an increased and unfair responsibility on the hobbyist beekeeper that with-out the same training/experience as a researcher wont be able to make the same observation and studies.

The year begins the previous Autumn, making sure the bee’s have a young Queen, there’s enough bees and food for the coming Winter. It’s suggested that 30 to 40lbs of honey should be left on a hive, however in some years the bee’s struggle to harvest this quantity in the whole season.

The beekeeper can then either feed a syrup solution or decide to unite with a stronger colony for the following season. As Autumn moves towards winter the Queen reduces her egg laying and the bees begin to cluster, not hibernating as some believe. The cluster of bee’s move slowly across their frames of stores eating enough to keep their colony temperature at about 35o C.

As the new-year arrives, and the length of day light increases the Queen begins to start her egg laying activities again. Slowly to start with she begins to lay more and more eggs as each day lengthens. From being laid to hatching in to a bee takes 3 weeks and another 3 weeks before they can leave the hive for foraging duties which include gathering water, nectar and pollen.

With Spring arriving the Queens egg laying activities can be 1000-1500 per day and therefore 3 weeks after this the colony population can cause the hive to become crowded and overheated making it difficult for the bees and their Queen to move around. It is also at this very time as the colony expands it can also starve to death, a mixture of too many young bees to feed, bees of the wrong age to forage and bad weather all taking a toll.

Yet if there are stores of food, and nectar coming in then this is the time the beekeeper needs to give more space which is usually done by providing what is called a "super". This is where the bees will store their nectar before converting it to honey. This process is done by the bee’s evaporating the water content before sealing under a capping made of beeswax.

If the beekeeper fails to supply extra room then the bees will make plans to swarm. The worker bees construct Queen cells in which a deposited egg receives extra food (Royal Jelly) and after 7 days the cell is capped. At this stage the swarm normally leaves the hive around 2pm during anytime from April to June.

The Queen and her court.

The hive/colony now awaits the new Queen to fully develop, hatch (Day 16), mate and begin her reign and hopefully produce a good honey crop. With summer the colonies numbers can increase to over 60,000.

Interested in becoming a beekeeper? If you are then there are several local beekeeping societies that cover the Sittingbourne, Whitstable, and Canterbury areas and are all part of the Kent Beekeeping Association. These are made up of like minded people who arrange courses and talks for the winter months and hands on displays during the summer.