hottsfieldhoney.Co.uk

Its been a good year for honey. The weather has been warm (if a little dry) and the bees have been busy.

At the start of June I removed (harvested?) about 70kg of honey – and put the empty supers back onto the beehives for them to clean. And they quickly re-filled them again ! So by the end of June I was able to extract another 100kg, making about 170kg in total.

By way of comparison, I obtained just 97kg for the whole of 2024 and just 24kg the year before that. The amounts vary a lot, depending on a range of factors. Obviously the number of hives plays a bit part, but the ‘genetics’ of the bees is equally significant, as is the local flora (and the skill of the beekeeper). We have lots of trees and gardens nearby, so not quite so dependent on what the local farmer has planted. Grain and Maize are wind pollenated – so no nectar there !