A mother-daughter beekeeping adventure
A new research paper reveals that honey bees may be running their own viral surveillance system. We break down what recapping behaviour means, why resistant colonies do it better, and what Bee Girl thinks it sounds like (spoiler: a sick bay).
So last week, I went to this talk by Jonathan Getty from the Native Irish Honey Bee Society. We figured we’d sit in the back, nod along to words we didn’t understand, and maybe pick up one or two useful tips. Instead? My brain is now completely full of queen rearing information and I have … Read more
How a Sunday trip to Galgorm turned into a beekeeping education, a rookie mistake, and the start of our mission to plant real food for our bees.
Our bees built comb in the roof. They needed more space. So we added a second brood box — but not before standing in the garden overthinking it for ten minutes.
What we learned from Stephen Martin’s incredible beekeeping adventures Right, so here’s the thing about being complete beekeeping beginners: when you get the chance to listen to someone like Stephen Martin—an actual bee scientist who’s spent decades studying bees around the world—you sit up straight, you take notes, and you try not to feel too … Read more
A Bee Happy Honey Deep Dive Okay, so Mum here. I recently sat through a lecture by Professor Stephen Martin about varroa mites, viruses, and how bees adapt to both. And friends? My brain is officially melted. In the best possible way. I walked in expecting the usual doom and gloom about colony collapse and … Read more
Right, so full disclosure before we go any further: this is our first year keeping bees. Our FIRST year. We got them in spring, we’ve been learning as we go (with approximately zero idea what we’re doing), and we’re currently in our first winter praying we haven’t killed them all — and nervously second-guessing our … Read more
A mother-daughter beekeeping adventure Right. Pull up a chair. Get the kettle on. I need to tell you about this talk, because it properly changed how we think about our bees. So there I was at the UBKA Annual Conference, sitting in the lecture hall with my phone out trying to record everything, scribbling notes … Read more
We thought it was a nice little tradition. Then we fell down a research rabbit hole that stretches from ancient Greece to 7th century Irish law to the Royal Beekeeper telling the bees when Queen Elizabeth died. The story of why bees must never be bought — only gifted.
Get the kettle on. You’re going to need tea for this one. Our queen absconded mid-summer, leaving us with a queenless colony and a lot of panic. This is the story of how the bees saved themselves, why mentors matter, and what happens when nature takes over.