Keeping bees happy

Photos by Autumn Robson

After a hard couple of hours working in the field, we had a wonderful talk by Jill and Fiona about what beekeeping involved. We had a great turnout - we almost ran out of chairs. Jill explained how it was necessary to keep the bees happy to persuade them to stay - it is swarming season and recently there was a swarm of bees from their hives (see cover photo). She explained the different roles of bees in the hive and how they forage within a 3 miles radius. What a sense of direction! All the gardens around will play their role in supporting the hives in Pensford Field so please keep planting to support them over spring, summer and autumn. Bees need water so ponds are great small or large as in Pensford Field. I think Jill said that they got 80 pounds of honey last year - nothing at all the year before so it is very unpredictable. We will let you know when there are jars on sale hopefully at the end of August.