Out and about in October
October has been very much a typical autumn month for us here. We’ve been busy getting the bees sorted for winter and spending an increasing amount of time in the honey room. It’s also been a chance to take a little bit of time off ahead of what we are expecting to be our busiest November and December thus far.
We started the month by visiting Chain Bridge Honey Farm just outside Berwick-Upon-Tweed. This was for the Bee Farmers Association AGM, it’s one event I never miss out on. The Tuesday afternoon we made the 4-hour drive north before meeting up with about 50 members for a meal, it’s always great to chat as it’s often the only time of year that you see others in our small industry.
On the Wednesday we headed to Chain Bridge which is a fantastic bee farm with lots of History, they are open to the public as a tourist attraction and have amassed a collection of vehicles, cars, memorabilia from the last 70 years or so. As well as the museum you can of course see the honey room and buy lots of honey and cosmetics they make on site. They have around 1,200 hives and stock around 400 stores so it’s a fantastic opportunity for us to have a walk around and get some ideas, you almost always come back with at least one good idea from these AGMs.
Back with the bees we’ve been busy feeding, the hives are now finally up to weight but it’s taken longer than it has the past few years. This week the feeders are coming off and mouseguards (metal strips to stop mice getting in to the hives) are going on, especially needed as we’ve already found a few nests between the inner and outer rooves of hives. Once that’s done, we can leave them alone for a few weeks, checking once between now and Christmas to make sure they have enough food. We are taking in to winter about 160 hives with the plan to make a small increase next year to around 200.
In the honey room our new processing line is busy at work producing more than ever, we’ve been very lucky to sign a few new big contracts so that is going to be very busy for us now. We’ve also started Bee Merry our festive spiced honey that is always so popular, and I know why… it really is delicious, just think Christmas in a jar!
We’ve only got one Market this month, Staunton Harold Winter Fayre. I think this will be one of the nicest winter shows around with an absolutely stunning venue. It runs from the 9th to the 12th November. We will have vouchers for our beekeeping experiences which have been limited this year so please book early to avoid missing out. We will also have our Christmas Hampers and little gift sets too!
Thank you as always for reading
Matthew Ingram
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