Some like it hot

A strong colony will have roughly 60,000 bees in it, made up of 1 queen, about 15% drones (male bees) in summer only and the rest are worker bees (all female!). They like to maintain a hive heat between 32-35℃.

When they are under attack from a hornet, a group of worker bees surround the intruder and vibrate their wing muscles to generate temperatures of about 46℃. They can do this for up to 30 minutes and this is enough to kill it. But, it’s crucial they act fast, as a hornet can release a pheromone that attracts reinforcement.

Soul sista

The queen is the only bee who lays eggs. Despite her name, this is her only job, it is the worker bees who work in a true democracy to decide on the daily politics, comings and goings of the hive.

When the queen hatches, she flies out of the hive to mate with up to 7 drone bees, before returning to carry out her royal duties. If she is feeling threatened while working, she will secrete a pheromone that tells the worker bees to defend the hive. This is why some beekeepers use smoke to mask the smell, while others (like myself) like to move slow and gentle, so we can avoid an attach.

It’s very rare to have two laying queens in a hive at the same time, but as you can see (both marked with a green dot), sometime they like to surprise you!

6ft or 6 miles

Bees have been found to recognise shapes and colours, thats how the foraging worker bees can recognise their hive apart from another in an apiary (group of hives) when they return home. This sophisticated navigation systems means that if you move a hive more than 6ft away from its original destination, you will cause a lot of confusion!

Similarly, a worker bee will fly up to 5 miles to find a good forage. That’s why when you move a hive, or in my case move house and decide to take the bees with you - you need to move them more than 6 miles. Here’s a little pic of me doing it the first time - yes it was scary! - we used maximum protection. I’ve since done it several times and now much more relaxed about it.

Royal heist

Royal jelly is a honey bee secretion that is full of nutrition, it is used to feed the baby (larvae) and queen bees. It is secreted from the glands in of nurse bees, and fed to all larvae in the colony, regardless of sex or caste.

During the process of creating new queens, the workers construct special queen cells - a slightly larger space which allows the egg to grow bigger. The larvae in these cells are fed with copious amounts of royal jelly. This type of feeding triggers the development of a queen, including the fully developed ovaries needed to lay eggs.

This is a picture of an open queen cell stacked with royal jelly.

Bees “got talent”

Before a hive will swarm (split in two, leaving behind a new queen to hatch) scout worker bees are sent out to find a new home.

When the scouts get back they each do a little dance to tell the hive about the place they have found. The scout with the best dance determines where they end up.

Where’s my honey at?

One hive can produce up to 60 lb (27 kg) in a good season, however an average hive would be around 25 lb (11 kg).

Bees fly about 55,000 miles to make just one pound of honey, that's 2.2 times around the world.

Honey is food stores for the bees, so it’s critical not to remove too much of it in order for them to survive the winter. We do collect honey from our bees but we don’t sell it. It’s just a good way to bribe friends and family 😜