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Capital Bee

Bee Inspired

Bee News

2010 produced some lovely honeys, Greenwich honey had an elderflower aroma and some hives made a lavender-tasting honey. Brockley honey had a floral scent earlier in the year and this changed to a more moorish caramel flavour. Grove Park allotments has produced a more citrus and marmalade flavour. In 2011 there were all sorts of flavours from mint through to liquorise!

The honey in general starts to get darker with tree flower type nectars as winter approaches. Hive numbers for Capital Bee are up to 28 this year and expanding, and there hasn't been too much trouble with varroa mite which has been a problem for beekeepers in recent years. The biggest honey producing area of the various sites has historically been Brockley.

In the summer Capital Bee gets a lot of calls about bees in compost heaps, as the weather is warmer and people are turning them over. These are usually ground dwelling bumble bees, not honey bees. If you discover them in your compost, leave them until winter when they may well have vacated it - or if you must move the nest, move it close by and as intact as possible to a place that is unlikely to be disturbed. They like being under dry grass and leaf heaps.

If you would like to help bees by planting bee friendly plants, bear in mind they like purple flowers which are not too long, so they can reach the nectar. Here's a list of some plants bees particularly like:

• honeywort
• lavender
• crocus
• lime trees
• astrantus
• bergamot
• thyme
• bistort
• sunflowers
• raspberry flowers
• apple trees

A year round flowering garden is best, as there are particular nectar dearths early in the year and June and September, so plants flowering then are invaluable.

10.03.2011.