First honey harvest

After keeping bees for a little over a year, last weekend we were finally able to take our first proper harvest from one of the hives. Smallholding can definitely be a game of patience sometimes.

We’re glad to say that the wait was worth it as the honey, which we harvest along with the wax comb, is unlike anything we’ve ever bought in the shops. Whereas shop-bought honey tends to be light and very sweet, the honey that our bees have produced is much more floral and complex in flavour. In short, it’s delicious!

We only took a small amount of honey from the hive but, as the bees rely on their stores to get them through the winter, we’ve put a feeder full of sugar syrup in an empty part of the hive to help them quickly replenish their honey supply. We’ll keep topping up the feeder every few days for as long as the colony is active to give them the best chance of making it through the winter.

If you'd like to read more about feeding bees then take a look at the post we wrote around this time last year.