BEEKEEPER EMMA

Emma, Y8, has been tending to her bees over the summer holidays and was rewarded with an abundant honey harvest. She tells us more about her beekeeping venture below:

I have been interested in bees for while and last year I did a beekeeping course with Harrow Beekeepers. The course was initially online, but when covid restrictions changed we were able to go into the apiary. I have an experienced beekeeper mentor, Jo, she’s been so kind and generous with her time and has taught me so much about beekeeping. 

I now have my own colony which I keep at Harrow Apiary, my colony contains around 50,000 bees, although I haven’t counted them! Honey bee colonies consist of a single queen, hundreds of male drones, and anywhere between 20,000 and 80,000 female bees. Each honey bee colony also consists of developing eggs, larvae, and pupae. The number of individuals within a honey bee colony depends largely on seasonal changes.

I’ve always found it fascinating how these little creatures work so well together to make a community where all its members have a specific job that is essential for the whole colony. I think humans could learn a thing or two from honey bees about how to work together.

Bees are incredible creatures; a bee is not born knowing how to make honey, she is taught by the older bees. The average worker bee lives for just 5-6weeks and during this time she will produce just a teaspoon of honey. The reason they make honey is to create stores to get them through the winter. Thankfully for us, they produce twice, sometimes three times, the honey they require. So we are able to harvest some of the honey they produce. This year my bees made lots of honey and I harvested about 40 jars of honey from my one colony. I made sure to leave enough honey so they can survive the winter. 
Local raw honey is very sought after as it is great for allergies, treating colds, is a natural antiseptic, and is also delicious.

This year I entered my honey into the Harrow Show and I won two cups. I was very proud. Next year I hope to get a second colony and have a go at making some products using beeswax; maybe things like candles, lip balms, and soaps.

We really need to look after bees, over the past 15 years colonies of bees have been disappearing, and the reason remains unknown. Referred to as ‘colony collapse disorder’ billions of honey bees across the world are leaving their hives, never to return. In some regions, up to 90% of bees have disappeared.  This is a huge problem for humans as one-third of our diet relies on bee pollination. As a beekeeper, you have to regularly inspect your hive to make sure that it’s healthy and doesn’t have any diseases or pests. I visit my hive from March to October at least once every couple of weeks to check all is well.

Everyone can help bees by planting a range of flowers that the bees can visit from March to October. Bees love cottage garden flowers like lavender, buddleia, borage, and native wildflowers. 

When people think of ‘a bee’ they tend to imagine a bumblebee, all round and fluffy. A honey bee is quite different, it actually looks quite a lot like a wasp, and so can easily be confused. Wasps have bright yellow stripes, honey bees have darker yellowy-brown stripes. Wasps are bald and shiny, bees are slightly hairy to carry pollen. Next time you see a honey bee I hope you appreciate a little more about how special they are.