Bees (what a bad year )

[LENNY24124]

Well it has been a real bad year for my bees .
From the beginning of April until the 1st of August is the Bee-keeping year (for the bees to collect honey) But the weather has been so bad with the rain and cold snaps it has been a night -mar for my bees.
In April they were unable to collect any pollen or food so I had to feed them I had 3 hive that made it through the winter. A mix of sugar and water is put into a contact feeder to feed them. This is a bucket with a circular hole made in the lid the size of a 50p piece,gauze Rounded circle in its place . This enables the bees to suck the sugar syrup through the gauze and turn it into a form of honey they are able to use .
The Queens in all my hives did not lay any eggs to increase the hive population until mid May.Then once the Queens did start producing brood there was still not enough food so more sugar solution was required .
A couple of my friends went to there hives to find the bees had died of starvation.
I have now finally got only a small amount of honey from my 5 hives of bees may be 20lbs if I was to sell it and get profit from my work this year it would cost £8-00 a lbs to break even .never mind it is a hobby and this year it has been a lot more expensive than previous years. Lenny

[MissEllie]

Sorry to hear that Lenny it's interesting hearing about your bee keeping but a shame it's been such a challenge for you this year. I bet that honey tastes amazing

[wendy]

I am not into bee keeping etc.

But I have hardly seen any bees this year, of any variety. Is it the weather?

[Gwenoakes]

Thats a real shame, Lenny. I, like Wendy am not into bee keeping but have noticed hardly any bees round my flower baskets this year. Also not seen many wasps either, usually we have to hang jam jars on each of the apple trees to sort the problem, so far no jars are needed.

The two Bramley apple trees we have have just two apples on them! Not many apple pies for us, me thinks this year.

[wendy]

True Gwen, no wasps either. This is sad.
I do have plum trees laden with fruit so that is good.

[p.penn]

Sorry to hear that Lenny. It must be a real worry for beekeepers as I know bees are struggling with disease and predators too, aren't they?

I am very keen on bees and would love to keep them if my garden was bigger. I always go into the bee tent at the south of england show and always get carried away thinking 'I can do this'!! But then reality sets in.

[Annie]

Snap to that Helen - with me its an 'if I win the lottery' dream.
Not surprised in Lennys comments at all, much to wet for these polinating insects to be out and about doing their work - have seen only 2 or 3 butterfly as well, its now wonder our veggies are failing. Lets hope the bees survive the winter and that next year there is sunshine to restore their numbers somewhat.