The Beekeeper’s Diary

The Beekeeping Year – December 

Every year, I give my bees a seasonal gift – fondant! Almost the same sugar paste that will be decorating your Christmas cake – but without some of the preservatives.. 

It is bought in bulk 12.5Kg packs and needs to be cut down into smaller blocks that will fit into 1Kg containers that can be put on top of the hive. This is another of the jobs that gets the kitchen and the beekeeper sticky, it never ceases to amaze me how everything you touch in the house seems to have a sugary surface – even if you have been nowhere near it! 

The containers of fondant are inverted over the top board of the beehive – it is purely an emergency measure, the bees should have sufficient stores in the hive, but in case they can’t reach it in a cold spell, the fondant will be easily accessible for them to use. To prevent the fondant going hard in the cold, I cover the containers with some form of insulation – usually bubble wrap. 

The bees will come out on warmer days, particularly if the sun is shining on them and the bees will make cleansing flights and maybe collect some pollen from plants such as mahonia or winter flowering honeysuckle.  

Other jobs are not really in the apiary, but in the workshop – equipment all needs cleaning, which is either soaking in a solution of washing soda or flaming with a blow torch to clean and disinfect wooden boxes and frames. There are also repairs to be made to boxes and other bits of woodwork.   

This is also a busy time with a lot of honey to be put into jars – people like to give honey as gifts and the demand is extremely high in December – keeping this beekeeper very busy..  

Sue Carter, Liveryman