Second Week

As if by magic or some otherworldly force, the weather forecast for Cornwall changed from sun all week to rain all week over night. Considering the weather over the last three years, this is not actually very surprising. In fact, it has rained every week since the beginning of July, and this summer rain is becoming something of a habit down here.

So it's raining, what does that actually mean for a beekeepers and their bees? Rain, as for all parts of nature can be good and bad. For Bees, a shower in spring irrigates the land, and if followed by sun, means a good flowering season. Rain also means fresh water to drink. However, if it rains during the flowering season, for any long period of time, this can really damage a colonies chance for survival. For example- If you have rain during July, the month in which bees are collecting as much food stores as they can for winter, then the bees cannot fly. If they cannot collect this food, then the bees will go into winter with very little supplies, or have to rely on Ivy as their food source. Ivy honey sets rock solid, thus not being ideal food for the bees.

On the beekeepers side, if it rains during the flowering season and the bees don't fly, then they will eat their honey stores. Even a week of rain in August can cost a beekeeper thousands of pounds in value of honey, and also force the beekeeper to start feeding the bees earlier; another cost. Beekeeping is a precarious livelihood.

First Week

Cornwall, the mixed bag of micro climates that it is, always refuses to give an easy ride to a beekeeper. It can be sunny and too windy, or warm but rainy- but increasingly rarely does it seem to be 1. Hot 2. Dry 3. Calm, When the honey flow is on. If all these stars align, the honey yield could be amazing, over 100 pounds per hive, allowing a beekeeper to cover costs and to also save money for the future. However, if this does not happen, as it has not for the past 4 years, honey yields could be far lower, causing the beekeeper not only financial difficulty, but also causing illness in the hive, as the bees may not be as strong going into the winter.

So, as I enter Cornwall on that fourth year of summer rain, but on the day when the weather forecast starts looking a lot more positive for the rest of the summer, I meet Rodger Dewhurst at my old university campus, to see how the bees have been doing since they were delivered here in spring!



The honey bees at the Tremough are in two different places and, as many of the hives Rodger keeps, have been given to groups so they can learn how to keep bees. If the bees still seem healthy into the summer, the group can buy the bees from Rodger. He teaches beekeeping techniques, and provides all materials for them.


Rosewarne: Duchy College



Here at Duchy College, the apiary is situated in a beautiful area full of wildlife. Although it was raining we saw some bees on the Clover (gone before the camera got to them) and this fly, who was so still i could photograph this close.

My New Project!

This week I started my latest project. I have been funded by E.U. to work with a Cornish beekeeper named Rodger Dewhurst for 5 weeks. Within that 5 weeks I will be helping him (and learning alot about his job) but also, and brilliantly, getting to photograph his bees, and products. His bees display Varroa Sensitive Hygeine (pretty much they will find Varroa in the hive, or in capped cells, and destroy them!). This has been seen but there is not much footage of this behaviour, and I aim to photograph and film this more throroughly.

So, I will be(e) keeping a diary of events of my project, including lots of photography surrounding this one company and fascinating subject- Hope you enjoy!

Hazel Trees

Hazel is one of my favourite trees. It signifies ancient woodlands, and mans interaction with his landscape. Its sound in the spring when wind rustles the catkins is the first soft sound of the year and is an amazing place to see bees working flat out to collect protein (pollen) to feed bee larvae.


Worker bees will collect the pollen and packit around the developing brood for easy access when the larvae need feeding. It gives them the protein they need to grow. It is also harvested by beekeepers by creating a grating on the landing board in fron of the hive. Pollen has alot of health benefits to humans.


This is a hazel flower. Hazel is wind polinated, as all trees with catkins are. Wind blows the catkins full of pollen, and this is carried by air thorughout the area, and by chance some of it will land on the hazel flowers. Although bees will collect the pollen, they will not aid in the reproduction of the plant.

Buckfast Abbey Bees

A beekeeper at Buckfast abbey lights the smoker on the steps of the house in the middle of the apiary.


In April the bees are storing honey for themselves and hopefully will be storing it within supers in a couple of months. The beekeepers smell the honey on brood comb. The smell is completely unique and worth the risk of getting stung!


A bee rests on the side of the smoker whilst he beekeepers check the health of the hive in the background.


This bee, still from Buckfast colects food from a Dandelion, about 20 meters from the apiary. This is a favourite food of the bees and dandelions are a vital food source after the catkins have gone over, but still not much is flowering.

Hello, these photographs are from the day i spent at Buckfast Abbey. I visited the apiary and tried to show the people, place and bees. I noticed how much these beekeepers respected their bees and how much they appreciated all the good smells from the honeycomb! The area was clean and very well kept, and found it very interesting look around, find where the bees were foraging, and compare the difference in the bees here and in Cornwall.

Goonhilly Pool

Goonhilly Pool is on the Lizard Peninsula. During the late summer, when the Heather has flowered, Honeybees may be brought to this area to create Heather honey, which is considered one of the best honeys in the world.

Smoker

This is my take on the "smoker" beekeepers use to calm the bees when they are working on the hive. I tried to find a simple image which was distinctive but interesting.

Dead Drone Bee

This was a Drone bee I found outside a hive. It has been affected with Deformed Wing Virus, A disease which surprise, surprise, deforms wings. Drones are perhaps more susceptible to DWV than Worker bees, as Varroa mites prefer Drone bees, and Varroa mites are believed to spread virus's.

Nucleus Hive

This is a large format photograph of an old nucleus hive that was lkeft out open to the elements. All the colours in it a real- not edited at all

Honeybee Flying!

Finally managed to photograph a flying honeybee- it took long enough! I used a digital slr, with the macro kit to shoot this.

James Kilty

James Kilty is a beekeeper in West Cornwall, and a friend of mine. He belog to a "Bee improvment group" and has been attempting to breed Varroa managment into his bees. The earlier post of the Worker Bee removing the dead pupa with varroa is his bees- so his aim to create a Varroa resistant bee is on the right path.

In these photographs you can see him cleaning old frames (with an OLD bee suit on- he does not use this for his work with colonies!!!), which when ready can be used again, and another photo of him feeding his bees a sugar solution in Winter.

They were taken on large format (5x4) camera

Varroa Destructor Under microscope

And if anybody fancied seeing a video of a Varroa mite- the parasite that has spread disease and attacked all Honeybee colonies in England, here is one!

A special behaviour of honeybees managing Varroa?

I watched this Worker bee drag this drone pupa out of the cell and attack the Varroa mite. Varroa mites have spread disease through all bee colonies in UK since being brought over here about 18 years ago. Beekeepers have been struggling to cope with the destruction they cause.I thought this was a pretty interesting behaviour really!