The glorious weather turned to torrential rain this week and today is chilly on the 1st of July. I’m busy being a student on an online course via Zoom so have plenty to occupy me without fretting over the weather. The good thing is that we might get a great heather nectar flow in August as a result of the deluge. Another good thing is that my apiary is fine without inspecting till next week.
A lovely surprise last week was a present from Connie along with a delightful letter on rainbow paper. Just as well I photographed the bottle when it arrived as it is now nearly empty. I’ve not had time to make my own so far but I thought you might like to try my recipe.
Elderflower Cordial.
The following makes approximately 600 ml, takes 25 minutes plus standing time to make, and keeps for 3 months in the fridge.
Ingredients: 12 elderflower heads ( I usually throw in a few more!) ; 1 large organic unwaxed washed lemon, 750g/1lb 10oz granulated sugar; 2.5 tbsp citric acid; 600ml/1pint water.
Method: Shake the elderflowers well to remove any insects and place flower heads in a large bowl. Pare off the zest from the lemon in thick strips and thinly slice the fruit putting them into the bowl with the elderflowers. Put the sugar and water in a large saucepan heating slowly and stirring gently to dissolve sugar. Bring to the boil. Then pour the boiling syrup over the elderflowers and lemon and stir in the citric acid. Cover with a clean cloth and leave to stand for 24 hours. Finally, strain through a muslin- lined sieve, or clean disposable kitchen cloth, into a clean bowl/jug. Pour liquid into a sterilised bottle using a sterilised funnel. Seal, label and store in the fridge. Because this cordial has a high sugar and citric acid content, it will keep in a cool dark place but I advise storing in the fridge. It will keep for 3 months and you can enjoy the redolent scent of summer as the days get shorter.
The Glen Hive.
I wasn’t kidding last week when I said that I get invited to do exciting beekeeping in fabulous settings.
This beautiful property is on the edge of extensive moorland that will be gloriously purple next month and provide good forage for the newly installed bees. It’s wild and isolated here yet not far from Cawdor village. If you need a break away in a peaceful paradise you can book a visit here at http://rehiran.weebly.com/
I know the bees that live here now because I helped a friend tend them at our local distillery. A few weeks ago, they consisted of last year’s queen in a nucleus made during swarm control. But, as you will see shortly, they are now a thriving growing colony in their rugged new environment.
When Paul and Jean moved here 20 years ago this Glen hive was the decrepit decaying home of unmanaged bees that came with the property. It was impossible for Paul to do anything with the bees at that time for lots of reasons. Designing and building the house, as well as flying folk between Inverness and London got in the way of much else. However, I ran into him at the airport on my way to the Ulster Beekeeper’s Conference in Antrim this February and we talked bees. The original bees swarmed and died out eventually. Finally, Paul was in a position to renovate this enormous hive designed in the days of hardy beekeepers who ate their spinach.
I haven’t discovered the year of this hive’s design but it was first used in Northern Scotland on the heather moors a long time ago. You can see the large porch entrance which is an enormous funnel-shaped tunnel almost the full width of the hive. The bees enter the brood box though a narrow slit on the base of the horizontal board that forms the upper surface of the entrance of this entrance tunnel. This structure supports the massive weight of the deep brood box and shallow super box. As you will see shortly it is a double-walled hive which provides some insulation and protection in our cold and damp Scottish weather. Beekeepers used to stuff hessian, straw and newspapers between the wall spaces. However, it is an unwieldy hive and not popular today except as an interesting part of beekeeping history. By the way, I can’t lift the roof off alone, and I don’t stint on spinach!
Holds 15 Brood Frames.
You can see that this is a really big hive. At the moment, Paul has created a division board so that the bees have access to only a couple of frames that need to be drawn out from the wax foundation. The bees keep warmer this way which is good because warmth as well as calories are required to produce wax. Paul is feeding the bees with 1kg sugar/1litre water via a contact feeder. The bees suck the syrup through mesh or holes in a jar lid and it is a slower method of feeding that stimulates a nectar flow and encourages the colony to raise brood. A rapid feeder might have been better for drawing out foundation but it probably makes little difference in this situation.
We call the outer box parts “lifts”. A shallow box of honey supers can be placed on top of this brood box and Paul has another lift stored away in his workshop for the future.
I’ll be closely following with interest the developments of Paul’s Glen hive beekeeping.
Recycling Wax & Propolis.
I watched with intrigue some bees collecting propolis and wax from dummy boards that I’d left outside the bee shed– to remind myself to blow torch clean as next job up. I knew that bees can collect things like road tar to use as glue in the hive to block up cracks so it should have been no surprise to have seen this. But, because I had never before seen them in action it was a delightful distraction. I regret that I couldn’t get a really clear photograph though.
Next Up.
Look out for a follow up to beekeeping with Connie. She came with her mother and sister last week to help open the door on the queen cage after a few days of a slow introduction.