I started keeping bees in 2016. I started with 2 hives, now I have 4 hives.
My first year was a steep learning curve. I had decided to take as natural approach as possible to my bees. I try to avoid toxins and medications for my family and as a homeopath, I always look to nature and homeopathy for solutions to problems. So it made sense to continue that for my bees.
Bees have suffered in the UK as a result of the varroa mite infestations, and the conventional wisdom is that the hive must be fumigated to kill off the mite, but this seemed like a rather radical approach to me. I decided to wait and see how they got on.
Another practice that I was surprised by, was the collection of all but a small amount of honey from the hives. It is usual among beekeepers here, to feed fondant sugar through the winter, to supplement the honey the bees have stored. This seemed strange to me. Why replace their natural food with artificial? Well, apparently it comes down to money. The honey can be sold for profit, and the sugar is a cheap replacement.
Again, this did not sit well with me. That is like buying the cheapest possible processed food to feed your child, then wondering why they get sick!
Honey is a remarkable substance, with antibacterial and antiviral properties, and a whole host of benefits to bees that we can only guess at. So why would you take the honey from the bees, fumigate the hive with noxious chemicals, and then feed them a barren sugar fondant providing energy but zero nutrition?
The honey they store is their food, their medicine, their defence against disease. It is crucial to the survival of the hive.
When my bees settle down for the winter, I leave them with enough honey to see them through the winter comfortably. I also keep back a jar for each hive, of the honey that particular hive produced, so that, if we have a bad spring or a particularly cold winter, I have an emergency supply to give back to them should they need it.
Bees have survived for millennia without our intervention, so I have adopted an attitude of leaving the bees all the supplies of honey they could need, and trusting that they know how to take care of themselves. A well nourished hive will thrive!
In my first year, our 2 hives gave us 30 jars of honey. This year, the bees in 4 hives provided us with 150 jars!! I am hoping this year to have 5 hives, so there should be plenty to go around this summer!!