Sweet summer for our busy bees
BEES have been making honey while the sun shines, with a bigger crop from hives this year due to the good summer, an annual survey reveals.
The bad weather of the Beast from the East that hit the UK in the spring did not harm honeybees, which went on to make the most of the long, warm summer with a honey crop that was up by a third this year.
But beekeepers are urging people to plant flowers to feed pollinators to help boost honey yields, as well as being good for other pollinating insects and the birds that feed on them.
Wales had exceptional improvements in the honey yield, nearly doubling from last year’s average per hive to 31.4lb due to the good weather, the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA) annual honey survey reveals.
Calwyn Glastonbury, a beekeeper in the Usk Valley who keeps more than 60 colonies of bees, said: “Spring blossom came and went exceptionally quickly this year, which was a worry at the time, but the long, warm summer more than made up for it and was great for our honeybees.”
England’s crop was up to an average 30.8lb (14kg) per hive compared to 23.8lb in 2017.
A crop of 30lb per hive is considered small compared to yields a few decades ago, the association said.
Margaret Wilson, chairwoman of the BBKA, said: “Honeybees and all our wild creatures need food to eat and that can only come from what we plant and grow, so gardening and agricultural practices are incredibly important.”