While manning the Addlestone Honey stall at the Addlestone Community Centre Craft Fair, the local magazine The Addlestonian, invited me to write an article.
I took the opportunity to answer some of the more common questions I'm asked by customers, relating to honey bee behaviour, their welfare and what beepers do.
The article is in the Jan, Feb, Mar 2025 issue. You can grab a copy from the Addlestone Community Centre, view a digital copy here >>> or read the text below...
Addlestone Honey
I’m a small-scale honey producer, working with bees in Addlestone. I sell honey and other bee products online (addlestonehoney.co.uk) and at local fairs and markets.
I was attracted to beekeeping with the intention of producing honey for my own consumption. I later discovered the most rewarding and challenging aspects of beekeeping are working with honeybees and the animal husbandry, both of which have made me more aware of Addlestone’s natural environment.
What does a beekeeper do?
Provides safe and secure hives for honeybees to nest and store resources in. Beekeepers perform regular inspections to monitor the health of colonies, look out for any diseases and attempt to manage the size and strength of colonies. Usually, at the end of summer, a crop of honey can be taken from stronger colonies, which often number 50-60,000 individuals.
What do honeybees do?
In the spring and summer months, approximately 90% of a colony are worker bees, which are all female. Beyond mating with virgin queens, the males (drones) do absolutely no work. Workers live for around 40 days, so queen honeybees must lay between 1,000 – 2,000 eggs per day to produce enough workers to gather nectar.
In the winter, this all changes; Autumn-laid eggs produce ‘winter’ worker bees, which live for up to 6 months, the male drones are kicked out of hives to perish, and the colony spends most of its time in a tight cluster. Workers vibrate their wing muscles to generate heat, keeping the colony warm and any eggs at 33-36C. Bees dedicate a significant portion of the year to winter preparations; their instinct to produce honey is driven by the need to accumulate sufficient carbohydrates and proteins to endure the prolonged scarcity of nectar and pollen, during the winter months.
Are bees in danger?
I’m often asked this question. Since honeybees produce honey, pollen, propolis and beeswax, there are big incentives for beekeepers to care for their welfare. However, there are around 270 species of UK bees, the native British honeybee (Apis mellifera mellifera) is just one of them. It’s the other bee species, most of whom are solitary, that are in danger. Climate change, insecticides and habitat loss provide constant challenges for insects.
How can we help bees?
You may have heard of 10-year-old Addlestone beekeeper Archie, who made it into the national news earlier this year, after writing to more than 50 councils and the King, encouraging them to prioritise the planting of wildflowers, to support pollinators. If you have a garden, it’s something you can do. Alternatively, you can let a small section of your garden remain wild, and a pile of rotting deadwood is ideal for a broad range of insects to call home. Don’t use pesticides, synthetic fertilizers or herbicides. Pollinators don’t just feed on flower nectar, they also eat mosses, moulds, seek out essential minerals in the undergrowth and drink water wherever they can find it. Honeybees even collect a sugary aphid excretion, to create a black Honeydew honey. So, aphids aren’t all bad.
Want to learn more?
I’m a member of the Weybridge beekeeper’s association (www.weybridgebeekeepers.org) where I help run the beginner’s courses. If you’d like to learn more about beekeeping the website has some great information, we also run an affordable 6-month beginners’ course, which is 50% theory and 50% practical. Each year’s course begins in January.
