Microscopes and Melissopalynology... what does a pollen grain look like?

Before ‘hayfever season’ begins, and while there is still frost on the ground, let’s talk about pollen. Pollen is a key component of bees’ lives, so we find it an interesting topic to research. It’s often seen
on the legs of our foraging bees, and our cats who come in from the garden in the spring and
summer with a fine dusting of it on their fur. Plus, of course, anyone sensitive to it will begin to
sneeze and/or get itchy eyes.

Pollen is vital to our world; every year thousands of different species of plants produce millions of
pollen grains. These are designed to be specifically distributed to reach their female counterparts
and so help proliferate the species. Thanks to Robert Hooke who invented the compound
microscope at the end of the 17 th century, the true nature of pollen was seen for the first time, and
instead of it simply being a fine dust, the grains could be individually identified. 

Off We Go Again!

Winter is almost behind us, the Spring equinox approaches, and the extra hours of daylight quicken our pulses as we look forward to warmer days. March is a nervous month for beekeepers as we are close to being able to carry out gentle hive inspections and discovering quite how our bees have fared since we last saw them in autumn. If we are lucky we’ll have some balmy weather with ambient temperatures in the early teens, just enough to allow the bees to take cleansing flights and begin foraging for early pollen and nectar.

This Season’s Fashions

 

Anyone who keeps bees knows that at some point, hopefully ‘later’ rather than ‘sooner’, (but almost never ‘never’!) they will be stung. Honey bees are not usually aggressive, but they are sensitive to being disturbed, and can quickly feel threatened by the presence of anything that distracts them from their work. Their reaction is to defend the colony and this often includes deploying their stings. It’s not true that all bees die when they sting – if they can retract the barb, the mechanism by which the venom is delivered, they’ll live, but often the barb is fatally ripped out of their bodies. Being stung therefore isn’t great for the bee or the person being stung and so it makes sense to disturb them as little as possible and for us to wear adequate protective clothing when we do want to be working with our bees.

When Plan A actually works!

Earlier in the summer we collected a few swarms of bees that did not make for easy work!  We might share a few of the stories once the scars have healed but for now we'd love to share a positive story (it helps with our therapy 😂😂😂).  Last month, on a sunny morning, we received a call from a couple who had noticed a large group of bees in one of their plum trees. We asked them to send a photo so we could assess it and yes, they were right, a swarm cluster had formed on a branch. It was almost text-book in its size, shape, and position, perfect for collecting and re-homing in a hive.

Santa Baby...

If you know of a budding beekeeper and they have been extremely well-behaved this year (or just not too naughty) then perhaps you’ll consider buying them something bee-related for Christmas. You could also treat yourself instead of waiting for someone else to get the hints you have been dropping for the past few weeks….!

Here are some gift ideas:

A starter kit, consisting of a hive plus frames, a beesuit, gloves, a smoker, a hive tool, a brush and a queen clip. New beekeepers will welcome starter kits which contain all they will need (minus the bees) to set up an apiary, along with the protective clothing that is a must-have. There is a school of thought that advocates ‘bare-handed beekeeping’ but this is espoused by people who have dealt almost exclusively with stingless bees and who are lucky enough not to react badly to bee venom. We would always advocate that you protect yourselves as well as you can, which means wearing a veil and gloves as a minimum.

We're back! But when is enough 'stuff' enough?

We're back!  And after a very trying time during recent months we thought to start with an easy question....

The simple answer is ‘Never!’ It is a truth universally acknowledged that whatever hobby you take up, whether it’s cycling, baking, gardening, or beekeeping, there is always more equipment that you can acquire. You may not actually need that much kit to get enjoyment from your activity, but there will come a time when you decide to get a few more things in order to get the most from your chosen leisure pursuit.