Frequently asked questions, answers expected soon…
Not ready for primetime….
ABOUT US
We are based in Crosshands, Carmarthenshire, but our hives are kept in several apiaries near Carmarthen.
Between 25 and 30 most years.
We do not currently teach beekeeping to others for reasons of insurance and space, but we are happy to recommend two local beekeepers who do. 1) The beekeeping group at the National Botanic Garden run a (normally) five week practical beekeeping course and 2) Gwenyn Gruffydd run a one day course (which includes lunch). Details for both are on their respective websites. These area very different experiences which may suit different people, but either will assist you in gaining initial understanding of keeping bees.
If you need to get in touch, see our Contacts & Socials page.
We’d love to offer any advice that we can. You can contact us from this website.
Yes, we post regularly on Facebook, Instagram and (now) Threads. You can find link on on Contacts & Socials page.
ABOUT BEEKEEPING
ABOUT BEES
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Honeybees are part of an old family of insects known known as hymenoptera. They are relatives of wasps and ants, who have similar body shapes and social habits. The first honeybees evolved somewhere between 146 to 74 million years ago from a carnivorous wasplike ancestor. This timescale means that they evolved during the Cretaceous period and co-existed with the dinosaurs. They survived, the dinosaurs didn’t.
We actually know whqt the first honeybees looked like. Just like in Jurassic Park, insects really did get preserved in amber creating a fossil record. We know for certian that bee like features have been around for around for 100 million years, and that they popped-up roughly about the time that there was a massive explosion in flowering plants. This doesn’t seem like a co-incidence and evolutionary theorist Charles Darwin had long correspondences with colleagues over the question of which came first, the plants or the pollinators. Actually flowering plants and pollinators took advantage of each other and very quickly created the symbiotic relationship that still exists today.
About Honey
Honey is an energy packed general purpose foodstuff made by bees. In a beehive, honey is an everyday food. It gets mixed with pollen to feed young bees and, since it lasts a very long time, it makes a perfect winter store.
Honey is made from nectar, a sugary liquid taken from flowering plants. It has formed part of the human diet for millennia and has numerous medicinal benefits as well as being delicious. Honey sold by a good beekeeper is the surplus taken from one of their hives and extracted without heat or pressure.
Yes, all of the honey that we sell comes from our own hives. We keep and take honey from several apiaries (the name for several beehives in one place) that we keep within a few miles of each other.
The amount of honey that we produce changes from year to year mostly down to how kind the weather has been to the bees during the Spring and Summer. We only ever take the surplus honey, after assessing a hive’s winter needs. Some years we take no honey at all. Honey that we intend to take is collected in an additional box added to the hive. These “honey supers” may contain around 11kg of honey. In a good year, every beehive should produce at least one full “Honey Super”.
About Beeswax
Beeswax is the primary building material used by bees within their hives to maintain structure and contain food stores and developing young. It is a non-toxic hydrocarbon produced from special glands within a worker bee’s body. For millennia waste wax has been melted down and used by humans to make candles. Because it is non-toxic it has been historically used to seal and preserve foodstuffs.
Alternatives to beeswax are made from paraffins, animal or vegetable fats and are less environmentally friendly and sustainable. Because beeswax is benign, it is a premium product and sought after despite a higher cost.
We collect up our waste beeswax from replaced frames and beehive inspections and steam the wax to clean it. We either sell the wax in this condition or refine it further to make candles that we sell directly.
If you are interested in buying a quantity of beeswax, please contact us with your needs.
