Hundred Acre Honey

🥶🐝 Winter Hive Prep 🐝🥶

Now that the honey harvest is complete, there's still no rest for the Beekeeper, as it's time to start preparing our hives for winter 🥶. This includes feeding our bees on the run up to winter, to make sure our hives are strong and resilient enough for whatever Mother Nature has in mind 🐝💪

Honey bees cluster in the hive during winter and although they have honey stored, they can go through it quickly. Therefore, it's important to make sure they have enough extra food to keep their tummies full and see them through until Spring, when they start foraging again to make Spring honey 🍯.

When flowers fade rolling into Autumn, bees have much less to forage on and this is when we start adding food. We start with liquid food that mimicks the consistency of nectar from flowers. This stimulates the queen to lay more eggs, which is needed to make sure there's plenty big winter bees to keep the hive warm and strong in the depths of winter. Progressing through Autum, we thicken the liquid, as the bees start to need this as winter food, rather than to produce more bees.

We also add "crown boards" to our hives, as this makes the feeding process safer for the bees. It acts as a lid between the brood box (where the bees are) and the roof of the hive, keeping the hive closed off while the roof is open briefly to add food. This reduces the risk of heat escaping from the hive and causing harm to our bees 🐝. The holes and slots in the crown board also make it easierier to add emergency fondant (richer food), when the bees really need it during the depths of winter.

We add their food through the hole on the crown board, which the bees can access easily. The pictures below show the bees coming up into it, in the centre part. The bees can't escape past the feeder, making winter feeding easier and safer. Feeding the bees in winter can get tricky, as you can only open the hive briefly (and not when it's blowing a hoolie!) or the bees can get cold and die. Our main aim is to feed bees as safely as possible and we manage this through being able to feed the bees without removing the crown board and risking losing valuable heat.

We also test the weight of our hives during winter, as this lets us know if the bees are running low on food. The hive should feel a similar weight to a bag of cement before winter sets in. We test the weight during winter by lifting the back of the hive. If it feels light, this is when we start adding richer food - fondant - for the bees to eat, which they access through the hole on the crown board.

There's a continual cycle of hive checks year round to make sure our bees are healthy, safe and protected 🤗 🐝🥶

🌹 English Miss Rose 🌹

English Miss has been hands down our fav new rose this year. Locally grown and has absolutely knocked the spots off our David Austin roses 🤗

She has the most beautiful and powerful traditional rose scent. This is her on a fresh flush of flowers right now, with more buds still to open. She is an absolute delight to enjoy at our outdoor sofas 🌹❤️

The bees love her too 🐝. We will have more of this rose available next year 🌹🌸❤️

🍯🐝 Summer Honey 🐝🍯

Our local summer honey is available ~ made naturally by our wonderful honey bees and provides so many health benefits, including being a well known remedy for colds, coughs and sore throats 😪🤧

🍯 the thick texture helps soothe sore, irritated tissue from coughing and calms the nerves that make you want to cough

🍯 is a naturally anti inflammatory, easing swelling in the upper airways

🍯 it thins mucus and helps loosen chest and throat congestion

🍯 it's naturally anti bacterial

🍯 it can help you sleep and repair if taken before going to bed ~ by helping stabilise your blood sugar and supporting natural melatonin production

Our delicious honey has received many fantastic reviews. However, don't take our word for it, please check out our reviews 🍯🤗

If you would like any more information, or to order some, please message the page 🙏📩🤗

A shout out to a fab local restaurant ~ The Whole in One Restaurant ~ now based at Grangemouth Golf Club (at Polmont Hill). If you are looking for somewhere local to eat, with absolutely delicious food, friendly service and very reasonable prices, then please check them out 🤗

The mac & cheese knocks the spots off any others we've tried and the steak pie was fantastic 😋

The ladies there are trying to get the word out that The Whole In One is now located here, therefore, if anyone can share this post I'm sure they would really appreciate it 🙏

More lovely words on our honey helping ease the symptoms of the Autum bugs going around 🤧😷

We are always happy to hear where our honey is helping and really appreciate people taking time out of their day to give feedback 🥰🤗

Thank you Julie 🤗