For when you livestock goes on tour. Home loving bees happily in their hives are a Beekeeper’s property under law and their theft is actionable. The moment that a swarm of bees issues from a beehive however, that ownership ceases. Since it is impossible to retrieve a swarm in flight, they enter a kind of legal limbo until they decide to settle and the owner may not be who you expect. As long as a

Beekeepers love swarms. Well, that’s to say, as long as they come from somewhere else. Waving goodbye to half of a strong colony of bees isn’t a good way to start the day. Mystery swarms though offer two ways to increase your hives, and for free. There’s the more energetic method, of course, where you rush to a reported swarm only to find that they’ve already gone, or there’s the less intensive and sensible option,

Last weekend we inspected our hives at beautiful Penlan Farm and found them bustling with activity. There appears to be a Spring nectar-flow on and honey being capped in many hives. It’s enough to warm any Beekeeper’s heart. ––––#localbusiness#welshbusiness#beefacts#bees#beeswax#beekeeping#beekeeper#localhoney#honeyfacts#rawhoney#rawhoneybenefits#honeybees#nature#farmlife#carmarthenshire#Wales#welshhoney#beehealth#climatecrisis#pollinator#savethebees#sustainable#natural

A lot of things about bees are ‘believed’ despite the evidence being weak. But, received wisdom can be a poor teacher. Does it matter that nobody in the know really thinks that bees “shouldn’t be able to fly” or that you really can not charm swarms to land by striking pots and pans or that panicked bees really don’t think that smoke means a forest fire? Well yes, it kind of does, simple stories may

There’s a disturbance in the force! With thunderstorms on the Met Office’s predictions for Sunday, sensible Beekeepers leave their charges well alone. It’s not clear why exactly – and there a several credible theories – but there’s considerable anocdotal evidence to affirm that a honeybee’s mood can change, unfavourably, when the mercury falls. It’s something I have (probably, allowing for my own confirmation bias) experienced before, and safe to say, bothering them with lightening in

You may have noticed the bluebells on our honey logo. Possibly, you’ve wondered why we like Bluebells? It’s not a flower with a strong bee association. Well, it goes back to the name we chose for our honey, Gwenyn Maes Chwarel, the Quarry Field Bees. The Quarry Field, Maes Chwarel, is a beautiful little apiary near Carmarthen, an oasis of peace that every Spring delivers bluebells in abundance. This photograph was taken yesterday. ––––#localbusiness#welshbusiness#beefacts#bees#beeswax#beekeeping#beekeeper#localhoney#honeyfacts#rawhoney#rawhoneybenefits#honeybees#nature#farmlife#carmarthenshire#Wales#welshhoney#beehealth#climatecrisis#pollinator#savethebees#sustainable#natural