Now you’ve purchased your National Bee Supplies Beginner’s Kit there’s only one thing missing… Bees. Before you buy your bees, we always recommend attending a beginner’s course or taster session, these can be found by joining your local Beekeeping Association. These groups will also hold regular meetings, news, and training sessions. We also recommend joining the British Beekeepers Association (BBKA). Whether via your local association or directly they are able to offer a hive of benefits including beekeeping support, insurance on your first hive, annual conventions and much more.
Buying your bees.
Once these steps have been followed, you will then be ready to buy your buzzing friends. Here at National Bee Supplies, we are proud to offer a 5-frame nucleus of bees bred in beautiful Devon following the Buckfast Standards. These bees have been specifically bred from carefully selected queens, to be calm in nature and reluctant to swarm. Ready to collect from us mid- April onwards, depending on weather conditions, you will then be ready to get started.
Harvesting your honey.
From May through to August you can collect your honey, in a good summer, you could harvest around 40lbs of honey per hive. When the frame is filled with 80% sealed capped honey you can begin to harvest, however, it is better to be patient and leave your frames until the bees have filled all the frames will capped honey or until the last nectar flow of the season is complete
The first step of the extraction process is to ensure that your honey is ripe. This is when the honeycomb is sealed by the bees and the water content is around 17 to 18%. You will then remove all the cappings with our uncapping equipment.
The second step is the extraction process. Honey extraction is the process of removing the honey from the honeycomb so that it is isolated in pure liquid form. Once uncapped, the frames are placed in a honey extractor and the honey is removed using centrifugal force. Care must be taken to ensure that all frames are loaded correctly. Once extracted, the resulting honey will still contain bits of wax and must be passed through a filtering system.
Store your honey in jars and add that personalised touch with our range of customisable labels. Perfect for those that are looking to sell their honey from your garden gate or local market stall.
In Autumn, you will need to replace your stolen honey by feeding your bees with sugar and water solution. Then having protected your hive against varroa and unwelcome visitors such as woodpeckers and mice, you can shop for the winter.
