Generated by All in One SEO v4.9.8, this is an llms.txt file, used by LLMs to index the site.

# Beespoke Info

Information For Humans Beeing

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](http://beespoke.info/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [Blog](http://beespoke.info/latest-post/) - What's happening in the apiary and what you should do about it!
- [Skeps and Skep Beekeeping](http://beespoke.info/2017/04/16/skeps-and-skep-beekeeping/) - A skep is a familiar part of the beekeeper’s equipment. Nowadays they are used to gather summer swarms but once they were used to hive bees all year round.
- [How do I know if my hive is queenless?](http://beespoke.info/2019/07/20/how-do-i-know-if-my-hive-is-queenless/) - Unless you killed the queen yourself, or saw her die, you can't be certain the bees are queenless until you test them.
- [How to make Soft-Set or 'Creamed' Honey](http://beespoke.info/2015/03/31/how-to-make-soft-set-or-creamed-honey/) - Soft-set is a great way to treat your rape honey - here's the easy way to do it...
- [Piping Queen Bees](http://beespoke.info/2014/06/18/piping-queen-bees/) - You will know when the little virgin queens hatch in that row of Apideas in your dark shed, because they will start piping challenges to each other.
- [The Sun Hive & How to Make One](http://beespoke.info/2020/10/12/the-sun-hive-and-how-to-make-one/) - A straw sun hive, allows honey bees to be themselves and build a warmer egg-shaped home. Here's how to make one.
- [Porter Bee Escape](http://beespoke.info/2015/08/05/porter-bee-escape/) - Clearing bees? Porter bee escapes often get a bad press but set up carefully they're brilliant.
- [Chalkbrood and the Banana Thing](http://beespoke.info/2016/09/13/chalkbrood-and-the-banana-thing/) - There is no scientific proof that a banana will cure chalkbrood and none that is won't. But the one about the banana and the chalkbrood doesn't go away...
- [Pollen and Bees](http://beespoke.info/2022/01/11/pollen-and-bees/) - Despite its complexity, bees cannot live on honey alone. Sugars in honey supply their energy needs but they need protein, minerals & trace elements too.
- [Bee Trees - Ivy (Hedera helix)](http://beespoke.info/2015/10/23/bee-trees-ivy-hedera-helix/) - Beekeepers know Ivy is a great plant for the bees but is it a bee tree? It is when it has a woody stem and a bushy crown with flowers on.
- [How to Prepare Beeswax for Show](http://beespoke.info/2022/01/23/how-to-prepare-beeswax-for-show/) - If you want to make cake of beeswax for the show bench and like a challenge - here's how. But a word of warning - it's a right palaver!
- [How to get Section Honey](http://beespoke.info/2015/05/31/how-to-get-section-honey/) - Good sections commands high prices because they are hard got. Here's how to get your bees to fill a crate of sections...
- [How to Prepare Bees for the Heather](http://beespoke.info/2019/07/31/preparing-bees-for-the-heather/) - To maximise your chances of a successful heather crop, follow this guide and prepare well in advance
- [Artificial Swarm](http://beespoke.info/2014/05/20/artificial-swarm/) - Don't panic! Step by step Artificial Swarm instuctions. Diagram and downloadable Powerpoint animation show how to calmly perform an artificial swarm.
- [Bee Basics - Apiary Site](http://beespoke.info/2014/01/12/bee-basics-apiary-site/) - There is no perfect site for bees. It's all swings and roundabouts, or snakes and ladders, but here are some points to consider...
- [Blooming Gorse](http://beespoke.info/2014/01/20/blooming-gorse/) - The gorse is in bloom early this year, although what is it they say - 'When gorse is out of bloom, kissing is out of fashion' - is that it? Look out for orange/brown pollen loads - along with the brighter orange from the snowdrops. In fact, when the weather does warm up and the
- [Honey, Tahini and Date Biscuits](http://beespoke.info/2022/01/11/honey-tahini-and-date-biscuits/) - I warn you - despite the healthy-sounding ingredients - these craggy biscuits are extremely calorific and addictive.
- [Scottish Flummery Recipe](http://beespoke.info/2013/10/30/scottish-flummery/) - Traditional Scottish Flummery is a, porridge-like jelly with the oats removed. A modern twist transforms it with whisky and cream. Happy Burns night!
- [Composition of Honey](http://beespoke.info/2022/01/04/composition-of-honey/) - Bees make honey from nectar. Nectar contains water, sugars, acids, proteins and enzymes, vitamins and minerals. Bees remove water and add some enzymes.
- [How to Find Drone Congregation Areas](http://beespoke.info/2021/11/30/drone-congregation-areas/) - Honey bees have been studied for centuries but one aspect of bee behaviour that remains mysterious is the Drone Congregation Area or DCA.
- [Heritage Bill?](http://beespoke.info/2017/02/19/heritage-bill/) - The Heritage Bill has little to do with Heritage other than to extend the period landowners can burn, cut, grub or otherwise erase nature from our landscape.
- [How to set up a catcher hive](http://beespoke.info/2022/01/06/how-to-set-up-a-catcher-hive/) - Even if you are a bee-god and your swarm control technique is perfection personified - always set up a catcher hive because you might be wrong!
- [Beeswax Wraps made Simple](http://beespoke.info/2021/12/13/simple-beeswax-wraps/) - How to make beeswax wraps in one hour: a simple mess-free method without pine resin or rosin.July 15, 2026
- [Oxalic Acid for Beekeepers](http://beespoke.info/2014/12/19/oxalic-acid/) - Oxalic acid is probably the best Varroacide in the world. Read all about it - where it comes from, what it is, what it does and what it doesn't...
- [Irish Hedgerow Destruction](http://beespoke.info/2021/04/04/irishhedgerowdestruction/) - April 4, 2021 Everytime you see a hedge of severed stumps imagine the lovely flowering trees that once stood there and ask yourself who could do such a thing and more importantly why.
- [Native Irish Honey Bee Book](http://beespoke.info/2021/12/28/native-irish-honey-bee-book/) - This book is a collaborative work with contributions from expert beekeepers and scientists throughout Ireland. It contains everything you need to know about the Native Irish Honey Bee - from evolution to genetics and into the future with conservation and ‘how to’ sections from commercial beekeepers. Includes a practical section with step by step instructions
- [How to set up an Apidea](http://beespoke.info/2013/11/30/apidea-instructions/) - Apideas are great for getting a new queen, 'banking' an old one, or hosting that nice queen cell you didn't know what to do with! Here's how it's done...
- [How to make mead from beeswax cappings](http://beespoke.info/2021/12/28/mead-from-beeswax-cappings/) - Mead is an ancient honey-based alcoholic beverage. Vikings were big into mead. So were Druids, Celts, Saxons and the Beaker people. Vikings drank it from horns but the Beaker people drank it from beakers.
- [Honey Bees and Climate Change](http://beespoke.info/2015/11/28/honey-bees-and-climate-change/) - Climate change means the planet is heating up but here at the shitty end of Europe, it just means more wind and rain.
- [We need to talk about ragwort](http://beespoke.info/2021/11/28/we-need-to-talk-about-ragwort/) - We all tend to have a knee-jerk reaction when we see a field of ragwort. But perhaps we should adjust our mindsets instead.
- [Cult of Ignorance](http://beespoke.info/2021/05/28/cult-of-ignorance/) - Politics, men in hats and the power of studied ignorance
- [Beeswax Mountain - Candle Making](http://beespoke.info/2013/11/13/beeswax-mountain/) - Don't go flicking your beeswax into the undergrowth - save it up and you too could have a mountain like mine. Here's how to make some candles...
- [Beeswax Soap Recipe](http://beespoke.info/2014/02/06/beeswax-soap-recipe/) - A nice and simple, cold-process recipe for a lovely sudsy beeswax soap
- [Beeswax Furniture Polish Recipe](http://beespoke.info/2013/12/16/beeswax-furniture-polish/) - Polish up yer wooden stuff with this stuff - it's something to do with your beeswax mountain and it smells nice too
- [Easy Beeswax Handcream Recipe](http://beespoke.info/2013/12/12/easy-beeswax-handcream-recipe/) - Here's a beeswax handcream recipe so simple you could probably eat it. It'll certainly hold your hair in place. Oh and it'll give you lovely soft hands too
- [Beeswax Facts](http://beespoke.info/2013/11/22/beeswax-facts/) - Get the facts about beeswax then get on and do something with it. Plenty of ideas here - from lip-balm to arson!
- [Lip Balm Recipe](http://beespoke.info/2013/12/17/lip-balm-recipe/) - Here is a recipe for lip balm - if your lips are in tatters this is the stuff for you. At the very least it will give you a nice glossy pout.
- [Rendering Beeswax](http://beespoke.info/2014/01/14/rendering-beewax/) - Rendering beeswax is not for the faint-hearted - it is the most recalcitrant substance known to man so gird up yer loins and don't use the kitchen.
- [Bee Trees - Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna)](http://beespoke.info/2014/02/03/bee-trees-hawthorn/) - Hawthorn is the potential source of the finest honey and a rich supply of pollen at the height of the brood rearing season. But there's more...
- [Bee Flowers - April](http://beespoke.info/2016/04/04/bee-flowers-april/) - So it's April - here are some flowering plants for the bees: Click the table for a bigger view
- [Spiced Honey Liqueur](http://beespoke.info/2015/12/25/spiced-honey-liqueur/) - Here's a recipe for a real winter warmer - and a great way to use up some of your enormous vodka horde!
- [Heather Ecosystem](http://beespoke.info/2015/04/02/heather-ecosystem/) - When beekeepers think heather, they think 'Will it ever stop bloody raining?' But there's more to it than the weather. It's the ecology - Stupid!
- [Christmas - Bees and Wintering](http://beespoke.info/2016/12/31/christmas-bees-and-wintering/) - Christmas is one of the four quarter days which mark the changing of the seasons. Fortunately there is lots for the beekeeper to be getting on with
- [Beeswax Fillings](http://beespoke.info/2020/12/05/beeswax-fillings/) - Lost a filling? Don't despair - reach for the beeswax and put off that awful day when you have to phone the dentist.
- [Buckfast Bee](http://beespoke.info/2014/01/31/buckfast-bees/) - The Buckfast Bee is a hybrid; first bred in Buckfast Abbey in Devon by Brother Adam to be especially suited to the England of 1930.
- [Varroa Resistant Bees](http://beespoke.info/2015/09/22/varroa-resistant-bees/) - The methods bees use to cope with Varroa are the subject of much research. They fall into two broad categories: Grooming and Hygienic Behaviour...
- [Where to buy bees?](http://beespoke.info/2014/01/13/bee-basics-where-to-get-bees/) - If you are new to the wacky world of beekeeping, be careful when buying bees. Scroll down for an up to date list of native bee suppliers.
- [Bee Basics - the Beespace](http://beespoke.info/2014/01/29/bee-basics-the-bee-space/) - Reverend Langstroth patented the beespace in America in 1851 and since then he is credited with its discovery. However, it was already in use in Europe...
- [Noxious Weeds!](http://beespoke.info/2017/03/06/bees-and-noxious-weeds/) - Beekeepers, read this and weep - the full list of 'Noxious Weeds' as specified by the Department of Agriculture:
- [Carniolan Bee](http://beespoke.info/2014/01/31/carniolan-bee/) - The Carniolan bee has its origins in Eastern Europe and is therefore adapted to a continental climate - not Ireland.
- [Honey Bee Colony Assessment](http://beespoke.info/2015/02/08/honey-bee-colony-assessment/) - Bee improvement is not difficult - anybody can do it and in fact every beekeeper should do it. Start here with a good colony assessment sheet...
- [How to improve your bees](http://beespoke.info/2015/02/11/how-to-improve-your-bees/) - There are all sorts of bees for sale out there but how can they be better than the locals on their home turf? Don't import - improve.
- [How to Introduce a queen bee to an Apidea](http://beespoke.info/2015/07/03/how-to-introduce-a-queen-bee-to-an-apidea/) - There are occasions when you may want to introduce a laying queen or a virgin into an established Apidea. Here's a simple introduction method:
- [Beekeeping Equipment](http://beespoke.info/2014/01/14/beekeeping-equipment/) - Trust me - eventually bees will try to kill you. if you are thinking of taking up beekeeping, get proper equipment and build your confidence from inside it.
- [Poplar leaf rust spores?](http://beespoke.info/2015/07/16/poplar-leaf-rust-spores/) - Do bees gather the the spores of rust fungi when pollen is in short supply? Apparently they do...
- [Isle of Man Horse Power](http://beespoke.info/2016/09/26/isle-of-man-horse-power/) - Were you at the BIBBA conference on the Isle of Man? Did you see the horse trams? Well they too are threatened with extinction!
- [Bee Basics - Metamorphosis](http://beespoke.info/2014/02/11/larval-development/) - Details of honey bee metamorphosis: from a simple maggot-like larval body to that of a complex, adult insect with hopes and dreams and a lust for life...
- [Skep Beekeeping](http://beespoke.info/2015/11/12/skep-beekeeping/) - The skep was eventually superseded by the wooden hive. However, records show 25% of colonies were still in skeps in Cumberland and Westmorland in 1906.
- [Skep binding - how to join canes](http://beespoke.info/2015/01/14/skep-binding-how-to-join-canes/) - Here's photo guide of how to add a new cane to your skep and make a join that is nearly invisible.
- [Skep History](http://beespoke.info/2013/10/22/skep-history/) - The straw skep is a familiar part of the beekeeper’s equipment. Nowadays they are used primarily to gather summer swarms and winter cobwebs but in the past, skeps were used to hive bees all year round. Origins The word skep is thought to have come from an Icelandic Norse word skeppa meaning a straw basket
- [How to take a crop of Ivy honey](http://beespoke.info/2014/10/07/how-to-take-a-crop-of-ivy-honey/) - The news on the streets is that ivy honey is the best thing since Manuka – I’m serious! Here's how to take a crop of ivy honey.
- [Beekeeping without Smoke](http://beespoke.info/2014/04/24/beekeeping-without-smoke/) - The beekeeper's smoker should be regarded like lion tamer's whip and chair; it should only be used in defense or it's sure to end in tears...
- [Beekeepers Smoker Fuel](http://beespoke.info/2015/10/05/beekeepers-smoker-fuel/) - Lighting your smoker and keeping it lit is part common sense, part practice and part art. Puff puff.
- [SICAMM 2020 Conference](http://beespoke.info/2019/12/12/sicamm-2020-conference/) - Click here to buy tickets for the 2020 SICAMM/ NIHBS conference in Athlone
- [How to unite bees - the Third Box Principle](http://beespoke.info/2015/01/05/uniting-bees-the-third-box-principle/) - Bees and mice have little in common. Mice don't swarm but both are territorial. Learn how to unite bees (and mice) with the Third Box Principle
- [How to use your Jenter Kit](http://beespoke.info/2015/07/03/how-to-use-your-jenter-kit/) - The Jenter kit is the best queen rearing kit there is. Here's how to put it into use.
- [Queen Rearing Timetable for Cloake Board & Jenter Kit](http://beespoke.info/2019/06/12/queen-rearing-timetable-for-cloake-board-and-jenter-kit/) - This timetable is for queen rearing using a Jenter kit with a Cloake board system. Click on the diagram for a bigger picture.
- [Honey Toasted Muesli/Granola Recipe](http://beespoke.info/2015/02/18/honey-toasted-muesli-recipe/) - Try this recipe for a healthy Beekeeper's Breakfast. Delicious with yogurt, fresh fruit and more honey!
- [Murphy](http://beespoke.info/2018/11/16/murphy/) - Dear old Murph - 2008 - 2018
- [Bee Flowers - November](http://beespoke.info/2016/11/26/bee-flowers-november/) - There really isn't much out there for the bees in November but when the weather permits they really do love the Mahonia.
- [Acarine Disease](http://beespoke.info/2014/02/25/acarine/) - Acarine disease is something to look for in the spring when honey bee colonies may fail to build up. Look out for large numbers of bees crawling on the round
- [Green pollen?](http://beespoke.info/2019/10/03/green-pollen/) - What are those bright green pollen loads you see at the end of the season? Could it be meadowsweet? Or could it be a mixture?
- [Bee Flowers - October](http://beespoke.info/2016/11/18/bee-flowers-october/) - There isn't much in flower for the bees this month. Click table for the bigger picture.
- [Bee Basics - the Colony](http://beespoke.info/2013/12/26/types-of-bee-the-basics/) - Honey bees are social insects which means they are unable to survive as individuals - instead they live together in colonies...
- [Wintering Bees](http://beespoke.info/2015/10/14/wintering-bees/) - Preparations for winter should begin straight after the honey harvest. Treat and feed your bees asap or they might not be there to greet you come spring.
- [Bee Flowers - September](http://beespoke.info/2016/09/14/bee-flowers-september/) - Here are some flowers for the bees in September. Irish Natives are in green. Let me know if I've missed any!
- [Ashford Honey Festival](http://beespoke.info/2018/09/06/ashford-honey-festival-and-skep-demo/) - Ashford & District Beekeepers are having a Honey Festival: Éanna Ní Lamhna will give a talk on Biodiversity and the Importance of Pollinators. There will also be a skep making demonstration - that's me, that is. Map here:
- [Bee Flowers August](http://beespoke.info/2016/08/09/bee-flowers-august/) - Here are some flowers for the bees in August. Irish natives are in green. Let me know if I've missed any
- [Italian Bee](http://beespoke.info/2014/01/30/italian-bee/) - The Italian bee - also known as Apis mellifera ligustica or A.m.ligustica for short - is a very glamorous bee altogether but not suited to Ireland.
- [How to take a crop of heather honey](http://beespoke.info/2014/11/28/how-to-take-a-crop-of-heather-honey/) - To get a crop of heather honey is not easy. Everything the beekeeper needs to know about the Known Knowns, the Known Unknowns and the Unknown Unknowns here.
- [Heathering](http://beespoke.info/2015/07/31/heathering/) - July is the time to get the bees to the heather but have you got a heather site? Here are some notes on what to look for in a good one.
- [Bee Flowers - July](http://beespoke.info/2016/07/01/bee-flowers-july/) - So it's July at last - here are some flowering plants for the bees: Click the table for a bigger view
- [Book Review: 'Swarming: its Prevention and Control' by L.E.Snelgrove](http://beespoke.info/2014/05/23/book-review-snelgrove-swarming-its-prevention-and-control/) - Anyone in doubt about his credentials need only look at the cover of his book to see a man who knew how to control his swarms - note the steely gaze - not a bee out of place.
- [Bee Stings](http://beespoke.info/2016/06/27/bee-stings/) - Honey bees have evolved beyond the need for an ovipositor. Instead they have adapted it as a weapon - the sting- and they are not afraid to use it.
- [Bee Flowers - June](http://beespoke.info/2016/06/02/bee-flowers-june/) - So it's June at last - here are some flowering plants for the bees: Click the table for a bigger view
- [Ireland Pollinator Plan 2015-2020](http://beespoke.info/2016/12/14/ireland-pollinator-plan-2015-2020/) - If Vincent van Gogh had known about intensive agriculture when he painted 'Wheatfield with Crows' he'd have cut the other ear off and left the crows out.
- [Queen Bee Introduction - Basics](http://beespoke.info/2015/10/12/how-to-introduce-a-queen-bee/) - Replacing a queen bee can be tricky but forewarned is forearmed. To maximise success you need to think carefully. Here's what to think about...
- [Acetic Acid Fumigation](http://beespoke.info/2014/02/26/acetic-acid-fumigation/) - If you have old brood frames it is always a good idea to fumigate to get rid of Nosema and wax moth. Here's what to do and what not to do.
- [Queen Rearing Timeline](http://beespoke.info/2014/06/25/queen-rearing-timeline/) - It seems to take an eternity for new queens to get laying but when you actually sit down and work it out it's actually our expectations which are unrealistic.
- [Cloake Board Method of Queen Rearing](http://beespoke.info/2015/06/26/cloake-board-method-of-queen-rearing/) - A Cloake board is essential for anyone considering rearing their own queens. The method utilises a queen-right colony ensuring the best quality queens.
- [Perfect Supersedure](http://beespoke.info/2019/05/26/perfect-supersedure/) - Supersedure is where the old honeybee queen remains in-situ until the new queen is laying - then she gracefully fizzles out.
- [Bee Flowers - May](http://beespoke.info/2016/05/02/bee-flowers-may/) - So it's May at last - here are some flowering plants for the bees: Click the table for a bigger view
- [How to set up your Jenter Kit](http://beespoke.info/2015/06/06/jenter-kit-instructions/) - The Jenter system can be confusing. Here are some photos and instructions to help get you started...
- [Chalkbrood Banana Results](http://beespoke.info/2016/10/26/chalkbrood-banana-results/) - So - the banana thing. Here's what was left after a month, a black and shrivelled thing with a strong smell of propolis. But what are the conclusions if any?
- [Queen Rearing - How to Graft](http://beespoke.info/2015/07/14/queen-rearing-how-to-graft/) - Grafting is often seen as highly technical and an unattainable skill. It shouldn't be though - because it isn't - it's just practice and knack.
- [Bee Basics - Pheromones](http://beespoke.info/2014/01/06/bee-pheromones/) - Pheromones are a family of small, volatile chemicals employed in the insect world as a means of communication and analogous to those of hormones in mammals.
- [Irish Native Queen & Nuc Suppliers](http://beespoke.info/2018/01/10/irish-native-queen-nuc-suppliers/) - List of Native Irish Bee Suppliers signed up to code of conduct
- [Skep Making Course 2019](http://beespoke.info/2019/02/14/skep-making-course-2019/) - Skep making course with Jane Sellers at Ashford Heritage Centre, Saturday 16th March 2019 from 10.00am - 5.00pm. Price - around €80 depending on numbers. This includes full instruction and sufficient materials (long stemmed wheat straw and rattan binding) to complete a standard size swarm skep 11”x13". Tools will be provided but bring scissors, and a
- [Bee Trees - Willow (Salix spp)](http://beespoke.info/2014/01/23/bee-trees-willow/) - Willows bloom early in the year and are very important for the bees which can be seen thudding in bearing huge loads of powder-yellow pollen.
- [Bee Flowers - March](http://beespoke.info/2016/03/02/bee-flowers-march/) - So it's March - here are some of the bee plants that should be flowering now:
- [Queen Substance](http://beespoke.info/2014/01/06/queen-substance/) - Whereas Royal Jelly is what makes a queen bee, queen substance - a pheromone with powerful effects - is what makes a queen bee a queen bee!
- [Dysentery](http://beespoke.info/2014/02/24/dysentery/) - In honey bees, dysentery is more of a disorder than a disease. There is no treatment as such but there are several ways to prevent it.
- [Bee Flowers - February](http://beespoke.info/2017/02/01/bee-flowers-february/) - For us Celts February 1st is the first day of Spring but you Saxon dogs will have to wait till March 20th! But for the bees... read on
- [Purple Moor Grass](http://beespoke.info/2013/10/29/purple-moor-grass/) - For those people lucky enough to live close to bogs or hills - if you fancy making your own skep, purple moor grass is ready to gather from October onwards.
- [Make your own Bee Skep](http://beespoke.info/2013/11/29/make-your-own-bee-skep/) - Learn how to make your own bee skep using simple local materials, patience, a bottle-neck and the power of the internet.
- [NIHBS 2019 Conference](http://beespoke.info/2018/12/05/nihbs-2019-conference/)
- [Honey, Healing and Hayfever](http://beespoke.info/2013/11/07/honey-healing-and-hayfever/) - Many hayfever sufferers find a daily dose of local honey to be helpful in controlling their symptoms but how can this bee? Composition of Honey Honey is a complex mixture of sugars dissolved in no more than 20% water. So long as the water content is below 20% honey is not readily metabolised by bacteria
- [Enzymes in Honey](http://beespoke.info/2013/11/05/enzymes-in-honey/) - Honey enzymes can be affected by heat, chemicals or pH but they might be more robust than you realise! Find out here what unravels an enzyme.
- [What is honey anyway?](http://beespoke.info/2013/10/30/what-is-honey-anyway/) - Nectar Nectar is the raw material for honey and is what the bees collect from flowers. It consists mainly of an aqueous solution of sugars, nitrogen compounds, minerals, organic acids, vitamins and aromatic substances. Sugars and water make up the bulk, with 1% or 2% containing the remaining ingredients. Sugars The three main sugars present
- [Cooking with Honey](http://beespoke.info/2013/10/29/cooking-with-honey/) - In the beginning there was honey. Sugar came much later. Discover how to adapt your sugary recipes, including jams, to use honey instead...
- [Sloe Wine Recipe](http://beespoke.info/2013/10/28/sloe-wine/) - Sloes are good this year - just managed to pick 9lbs in less than half an hour. Here's a recipe for sloe wine with honey: Ingredients 3lb sloes; 3.5lb honey; 1 gallon of water; red wine yeast; yeast nutrient. Method Pick through the sloes and remove stalks, leaves etc; Wash the fruit; Boil the water;
- [Native Bees](http://beespoke.info/2013/10/25/the-native-bee/) - The Latin, or family name for the European Honeybee is Apis mellifera. The species occurs from southern Scandinavia and the British Isles south across Europe and into Africa and Eastwards all the way to the Urals mountain range which forms a boundary between Europe and Asia. Within that enormous area there is correspondingly enormous climactic
- [Honey and Blackcurrant Wine Recipe](http://beespoke.info/2013/10/23/blackcurrant-wine/) - I've got 6 blackcurrant bushes in my garden. Each July I make between 10 and 30 gallons of melomel (fruit mead) from the currants they give me.
- [Things to do in October](http://beespoke.info/2013/10/23/things-to-do-in-october/) - October is the last month for the beekeeper to ready his or her bees for the winter. The ivy will be coming to an end soon and the bees need to have enough stores on board to carry them through the winter. As the temperatures begin to fall, they spend more of their time clustered
- [Ivy Honey](http://beespoke.info/2013/10/21/ivy/) - Ivy honey is dark in colour with such a strong, medicinal flavour it has to be a cure for something - caraaarrrrggghh perhaps. Research needed...
- [Honey Ginger Biscuits Recipe](http://beespoke.info/2013/10/20/ginger-biscuits-with-honey/) - This is the best ginger biscuit recipe I know and it never fails
- [Hair today...](http://beespoke.info/2013/10/18/hair-today/) - ... gone tomorrow. Flyaway hair? Try this recipe I found this morning. It takes minutes to prepare and will hold the most stubborn hair in place. Ingredients 15 grams grated beeswax 4 teaspoons coconut oil Method melt the beeswax in a glass jar or bowl over a pan of hot water; when melted - add
- [Hello world!](http://beespoke.info/2013/10/17/hello-world/) - Welcome to my world. This is how it looked in the winter of 2010.
- [Things to do in November](http://beespoke.info/2013/11/07/things-to-do-in-november/) - So the clocks have gone back and the nights are drawing in; the bees are all stocked up and strapped down ready for whatever winter will bring. What is left for the beekeeper to do? Maintenance that's what: - Supers and honey frames should be scraped clean and stored wet to scupper wax moths, stack
- [A Good Bee Book](http://beespoke.info/2013/11/07/the-bee-book/) - If you haven't already done so - read Ted Hooper's book this winter: Guide to Bees and Honey. It's the first and the finest bee book I ever read. I sat down in the conservatory one winter's day and read it from cover to cover like a novel. By the time I had it finished
- [Thought for the Day](http://beespoke.info/2013/11/07/thought-for-the-day-2/) - "All is flux. Nothing stays still, and nothing endures but change." Heraclitus (540-480BC). I bet he was a beekeeper.
- [Propolis](http://beespoke.info/2013/11/22/propolis/) - Propolis is a natural fragrant, waterproof gum with antimicrobial properties. Bees use it to batten down hatches for the winter and thwart the beekeeper
- [Wax-moth Hell](http://beespoke.info/2013/11/26/wax-moth-hell/) - Be warned - the assortment of creepy crawlies to be found in the bottom of a beehive is alien and horrific, like Doctor Who with maggots.
- [Blackcurrant Wine Update](http://beespoke.info/2013/11/26/blackcurrant-wine-update/) - The blackcurrant wine is good. Or should I say - it was good!
- [Thought for the Day](http://beespoke.info/2013/11/27/thought-for-the-day-4/) - Tús maith leath na hoibre.
- [Bees and Mahonia](http://beespoke.info/2013/11/28/bees-and-mahonia/) - Rather a murky late winter's day, 8 degrees C and misty with it. Despite that, the bees were flying quite strongly at around noon when I took this photo. This is Mahonia, a very tough flowering shrub which the bees love. Some Mahonias are scented but this one isn't - I think its full name
- [Frame Assembly - Bad](http://beespoke.info/2013/11/28/frame-assembly/) - Copyright © Beespoke.info, 2014. All Rights Reserved. You know - it is so irritating when you're stripping down frames and discover that they've been put together wrongly. It's usually one of three mistakes - or all of them, as in this frame. First of all, don't use panel pins - they're too thick, they'll split
- [Frame Assembly - Good](http://beespoke.info/2013/11/29/frame-assembly-good/) - This is how to assemble a frame properly but don't do this too early or your wax will go off: Remove the wedge cleanly or it won't sit properly when you put the wax in. It doesn't matter too much with wired wax, but if you're using unwired wax the wedge won't grip it properly.
- [Thunder and Lightning](http://beespoke.info/2013/11/30/thunder-and-lightening/) - This is the simplest dessert ever: Ingredients Heather Honey Clotted Cream Method Pour one on top of the other (it doesn't matter which) and serve. Copyright © Beespoke.info, 2014. All Rights Reserved.
- [Winter Reading](http://beespoke.info/2013/12/05/winter-reading/) - After a day as cold and windy as today thoughts turn to cosy nights in by the fire with a good book. Here are some recommendations for beekeepers. The first beekeeping book I ever read was Ted Hooper’s ‘Guide to Bees and Honey’ which is still the best book for beginners in my opinion. It’s
- [Doppelganger](http://beespoke.info/2013/12/04/doppelganger/) - Did anyone notice the striking resemblance between Simon Coveney and Herr Flick? Could they be related somehow?
- [Honey Marmalade Recipe](http://beespoke.info/2013/12/02/honey-marmalade-recipe/) - Mid-winter is the time to be thinking of marmalade. If nothing else it'll take your mind off that other nonsense that happens towards the end of December.
- [Honey Cake Recipe](http://beespoke.info/2013/12/05/honey-cake/) - Honey cakes tend to be dry old things - this one isn't - it's a really special cake. Especially if you can find some heather honey to make it with then it is sublime. Devonshire Honey Cake borrowed (and tested) from here Ingredients 250g clear honey , plus about 2 tbsp extra to glaze 225g
- [Irish Wasps](http://beespoke.info/2013/12/06/more-about-wasps/) - Although all wasps seem to look alike there are actually 6 species of social wasp in Ireland. First the Vespulae - these are the ones that cause most nuisance and particularly the first two blaggards: Vespula vulgaris (Common Wasp); V.germanica (German or European Wasp); V.rufa (Red Wasp); V. austriaca (Cuckoo Wasp). V.austriaca is known as the
- [Weather Warming Warning](http://beespoke.info/2013/12/09/weather-warning/) - The bees were very active over the weekend in the unseasonably mild weather. It is nice to see them so busy on the Mahonia and the late ivy, which is still in bloom here, but it is possible that it could scupper our hopes of a successful midwinter mite-cull. The bees will be bringing in
- [Do Bees need Insulation?](http://beespoke.info/2013/12/09/do-bees-need-insulation/) - Personally I don't think there is any need to insulate the roof spaces even if you are using mesh floors. And even if it turns colder. I only did it one year - my first year with bees - I cut up one of those tin-foil survival blankets and put a piece over the crown
- [Book Review: 'Breeding Techniques and Selection for Breeding of the Honeybee' by Friedrich Ruttner](http://beespoke.info/2013/12/10/book-review-breeding-techniques-and-selection-for-breeding-of-the-honeybee-by-friedrich-ruttner/) - You know you need to read this book, but like a nutritious meal with plenty of fibre it requires time, concentration and a lot of chewing.
- [Thought for the Day](http://beespoke.info/2013/12/10/thought-for-the-day-5/) - Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana. I found that somewhere on the internet by the way - I'm not that witty.
- [In Praise of Ravens](http://beespoke.info/2013/12/11/ravens/) - When I stepped out the front door this morning - a raven flew over and let out 3 loud caws which echoed round the yard and here was me thinking I was all alone up here with the snipe and the hares. Being curious birds he didn't go far but turned and came back for
- [Christmas Catkins](http://beespoke.info/2013/12/26/christmas-catkins/) - Hazel catkins flowering near Inistioge on Christmas day - that's the earliest I can remember. The bees will be all over those if we get any warm weather. There's no nectar of course - hazel being wind-pollinated but the bees always appreciate fresh pollen.
- [Bee Trees - Hazel (Corylus avellana)](http://beespoke.info/2013/12/26/bee-trees-hazel/) - The Latin name for hazel is Corylus avellana, Corylus from the Greek korys meaning helmet - a reference to the tough, helmet-shaped nutshell and avellana from the Italian town Avella where the nuts were once cultivated. Because the common growth habit of the hazel is as a straggling, many-stemmed bush it is most often classified
- [Snowdrops](http://beespoke.info/2013/12/26/snowdrops/) - Early spring bulbs are beginning to show in sheltered places. The first flower of the new yesar for the bees is the snowdrop
- [Bee Basics - the Worker Bee](http://beespoke.info/2013/12/28/bee-basics-the-worker-bee/) - The function of the worker bee is to work. If the queen is the ovaries of the hive then the workers are the body - and perhaps the brain. The tasks they carry out can be divided into two main categories: House bee Forager Guard bee is a role intermediate between the two and is
- [Bee Basics - the Queen Bee](http://beespoke.info/2013/12/28/bee-basics-the-queen-bee/) - The queen bee has three duties: To get herself mated, to lay eggs, to provide social cohesion or stability via the production of pheromones
- [Bee Basics - the Drone](http://beespoke.info/2013/12/28/bee-basics-the-drone/) - If the queen is the ovaries and the workers are the body and brains of the colony as a super-organism, then the drones are its balls. The primary function of a drone is to mate with a queen but he also seems to have a calming effect on the temperament of the colony. Mating The
- [Mid-winter Varroa Treatment - December 2013](http://beespoke.info/2013/12/29/oxalic-escapade-december-2013/) - Copyright © Beespoke.info, 2014. All Rights Reserved. Trickle treated 35 hives of bees with oxalic acid for Varroa today at 4 apiary sites. The temperature was 6 degrees, windy and beginning to rain. It took from 1.15pm to 4.15pm including travelling time so it has to be said it is the quicker of the two
- [First Snowdrops](http://beespoke.info/2013/12/31/first-snowdrops/) - It is the last day of the old year and the first snowdrops of the new year are showing through thanks to the wind and the rain.
- [Winter Feeding of Bees](http://beespoke.info/2013/12/31/winter-feeding/) - Keep a close eye on bees during winter and heft often to assess the weight - if they're light feed with fondant or pollen substitute.
- [Bee Flora](http://beespoke.info/2014/01/06/bee-flora/) - Here is a table showing the flowering periods of some of the more important bee plants and links to photos of pollen load colours.
- [Pollination](http://beespoke.info/2014/01/15/pollination/) - In spring, bees work the snowdrops - watch out for orange/brown pollen loads. Fresh pollen and perhaps a little nectar may help nudge the queen into lay...
- [Bee Trees - Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus)](http://beespoke.info/2014/01/20/bee-trees-sycamore/) - Sycamore or Acer pseudoplatanus - information for beekeepers. Popular and reliable bee tree or ecological disaster area?
- [Burns Night Special](http://beespoke.info/2014/01/25/burns-night-special/) - Brighten up your Burns night supper with some Scottish Flummery. Not an adjective but a noun! According to Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary of 1901 Flummery is an 'acid jelly made from the husks of oats' and water but it has since come to mean 'an empty compliment or anything insipid'. A recipe for traditional Flummery
- [Irish Native Bee](http://beespoke.info/2014/01/26/irish-native-bee/) - The Irish native bee - Apis mellifera mellifera or North European honey is also known as the Dark bee. Here's how to recognise the Irish bee...
- [St Brigid of Kildare](http://beespoke.info/2014/01/28/st-brigid-of-kildare/) - February 1st is the Feast Day of St Brigid (AD450-525) female patron saint of Ireland. For us Celts it is also the first day of Spring. You Saxon dogs will have to wait till March 20th!
- [Beekeeping for Beginners Course 2014](http://beespoke.info/2014/01/28/beekeeping-course-for-beginners/) - Anybody out there looking for a Beekeeping for Beginners course? Look no further:- http://southkildarebeekeepers.weebly.com/beginners.html Or there's a poster here - click it for a closer look.
- [Bee Basics - Which Beehive?](http://beespoke.info/2014/02/05/bee-basics-which-beehive/) - Choosing which type of hive to use is like getting married – get it right from the start and stick to it or you'll regret it - one way or another!
- [Things to do in February](http://beespoke.info/2014/02/07/things-to-do-in-february/) - Someone said any fool could winter bees, whatever the weather, just leave them alone he said. Perhaps so, but there's lots of other stuff to do in February.
- [Bee Trees - Horse Chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum)](http://beespoke.info/2014/02/10/bee-trees-horse-chestnut/) - The horse chestnut information for beekeepers. A handsome tree and popular with the bees. Look out for the unmistakeable brick red/crimson pollen in May/June...
- [Bee Trees - Lime (Tilia spp)](http://beespoke.info/2014/02/14/bee-trees-lime/) - July. The bees are spiralling out of their hives like little golden bullets - the limes are in bloom, there is work to do and the tree tops are buzzing...
- [Less Serious Brood Diseases](http://beespoke.info/2014/02/17/lessseriousbrooddiseases/) - The diseases of honey bee brood are many and varied but they're all a bit dark and creepy - like Roald Dabl's child catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
- [Bees on the Hellebore](http://beespoke.info/2014/02/18/hellebore-bee/) - An early bee investigates the Hellebore
- [American Foulbrood (AFB)](http://beespoke.info/2014/02/18/american-foulbrood-afb/) - AFB is the disease that gives beekeepers the willies, perhaps because there's no cure - instead consign bees and hive to the flames with a Viking funeral.
- [European Foulbrood (EFB)](http://beespoke.info/2014/02/19/european-foulbrood-efb/) - EFB used to be quite rare in Ireland but it reared its ugly head at Gormanston so it's out there and you need to be aware of it!
- [Garden Heathers](http://beespoke.info/2014/02/20/garden-heathers/) - Foraging bee with pollen bags of pale grey heather pollen. The garden heathers are in bloom now and the bees are all over them whenever the weather allows.
- [Nosema Disease](http://beespoke.info/2014/02/26/nosema/) - If, like me, you thought Nosema was skittery bees - think again because that's dysentery. Find out what to look for and what to do about Nosema
- [Hellebore Pollen](http://beespoke.info/2014/03/11/hellebore-pollen/) - Here's a bee on the hellebore - you can see the grey-green pollen .
- [Gorse Pollination](http://beespoke.info/2014/03/11/gorse-pollination/) - Here's an interesting one - this bee is being hoised aloft inside a gorse flower by the spring loaded pollination paraphernalia
- [Bee Viruses](http://beespoke.info/2014/03/05/viruses/) - Viruses are the smallest of all the micro-organisms. There is debate about whether they are really alive at all or just tiny proteinaceous machines...
- [Hibernating Queen Wasps](http://beespoke.info/2014/03/04/hibernating-queen-wasps/) - Queen wasps hibernate in the roofs of bee hives where it is nice and dry throughout the winter. Keep and eye out and prune them if there seem too many...
- [Storm Damage](http://beespoke.info/2014/03/04/storm-damage/) - Storm damage in February causes branch to drop in March - see photo. The moral of the story is keep checking your sites regularly whatever the weather.
- [Crocus Bees](http://beespoke.info/2014/02/27/crocus-bees/) - Some photos of the bees very busy in the crocuses with dirty-orange coloured pollen despite the very chilly morning - sunny but only 8 degrees.
- [Winter Losses](http://beespoke.info/2014/03/18/winter-losses/) - What do you do if a hive of your bees has died out? To know that, you need to find out why they died. Here's what to look for...
- [Bees and Honey with a Scale Hive](http://beespoke.info/2014/03/19/scale-hive/) - A scale hive is a beehive on a weighing scales upside down over a series of mirrors set like a periscope so you can observe the daily change in weight.
- [Wild Garlic](http://beespoke.info/2014/03/31/wild-garlic/) - Like it or loath it, wild garlic is coming up like a green tide. Personally, I like it. It's a pungent addition to salads and it makes great pesto too...
- [Willow Pollen](http://beespoke.info/2014/04/01/willow-pollen/) - Here's a hectic picture of lots of yellow willow pollen hurtling in today. The brown pollen loads are gorse.
- [Spring Inspections](http://beespoke.info/2014/04/23/spring-inspection/) - Now is the time for spring inspections. In fact the time is nearly gone and if it hadn't been for Eircom I'd have written about this weeks ago...
- [Sycamore Pollen](http://beespoke.info/2014/05/12/sycamore-flow/) - One of the good things about sycamore flowers is that they hang down beneath the leaves in the shelter of the canopy so showers don't harm them.
- [Swarm Prevention](http://beespoke.info/2014/05/14/swarm-prevention/) - If bees are healthy they will swarm - it's what they do - so take that on board and you won't be disappointed. Here's how to prevent it.
- [Common Wasp](http://beespoke.info/2014/05/18/common-wasp/) - There are a lot of queen wasps about. Unless some predator kills a lot of them, or they get some horrible wasp disease there will be a wasp-plague later.
- [First Swallow?](http://beespoke.info/2014/03/22/first-swallow/) - They say 'one swallow doesn't make a summer' and they're right - first swallow in the morning then snow this afternoon
- [Queen Marking Colours](http://beespoke.info/2014/04/01/queen-marking-colours/) - There are 5 queen marking colours and they follow an Internationally recognised sequence depending on the the year the queen was born
- [Dandelions](http://beespoke.info/2014/05/09/dandelions/) - The dandelion season is almost over in most places but up here, on this chilly hill, they are still very much in flower which is nice for us and for the bees. They are out working away in every patch of sunshine and this picture shows the colour of the pollen loads - a much
- [Quick queen-bee introduction - Matchbox Method](http://beespoke.info/2014/08/24/quick-queen-bee-introduction/) - There are many reasons why you might need to replace a queen bee. Here is a very quick method and almost foolproof method but you'll need nerves of steel!
- [Himalayan Balsam or Impatiens glandulifera](http://beespoke.info/2015/08/19/himalayan-balsam-or-impatiens-glandulifera/) - Himalayan balsam quickly escaped the confines of the garden to join the ranks of 'Invasive Pests' like knotweed, hogweed and trifids. Honey bees love it!
- [Henry](http://beespoke.info/2018/06/01/henry-and-polly/) - This is Henry the fearless 12 week old kitten playing with his dog Polly, who isn't as thin as she looks.
- [Bee Trees - Poplar (Populus spp)](http://beespoke.info/2015/10/20/bee-trees-poplar-populus-spp/) - Certain species of Poplar are a valuable source of propolis for honey bees and the spores of a parasitic rust fungus may be an alternative protein source.
- [How much does it cost to start beekeeping?](http://beespoke.info/2016/02/24/beekeeping-how-much-does-it-cost/) - Beekeeping isn't cheap but if you get good at it there's always the possibility of some honey to offset the costs. Here's the price in jars of honey...
- [Small Hive Beetle (SHB) Life Cycle](http://beespoke.info/2014/10/27/small-hive-beetle-life-cycle/) - Small hive beetle has African roots as a small-time insect-vulture - picking off weak bee colonies. African bees have evolved defences - our bees have none...
- [Pollination and Honey Bees](http://beespoke.info/2016/12/14/pollination-and-honey-bees/) - The ecology and co-evolution of flowering plants and honeybees has resulted in swings, roundabouts and booby traps. Read on...
- [Oh Life...](http://beespoke.info/2015/10/08/oh-life/) - Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song, A medley of extemporanea; And love is a thing that can never go wrong; And I am Marie of Romania. Dorothy Parker
- [Honey Bee Colony Appraisal](http://beespoke.info/2015/02/09/honey-bee-colony-appraisal/) - It may seem pedantic but these downloadable Colony Assessment and Colony Appraisal templates are invaluable in bee improvement and bee breeding. So read on...
- [Native Irish Queen Bees](http://beespoke.info/2017/01/22/irish-queens-bees-for-sale-2017/) - Irish Queen bees for sale - later
- [Irish Beekeepers Protest](http://beespoke.info/2017/02/27/irish-beekeepers-protest/) - Beekeepers of Ireland rise up and protest against the Heritage Bill before it all goes up in flames!
- [Murphy's Last Stick](http://beespoke.info/2017/01/06/murphys-last-stick/) - A word of warning to those of you out there with dogs who love to chase sticks. A stick can bounce and slice a dog's throat all the way down to its shoulder.
- [Queen Bee Introduction - Postal Cage](http://beespoke.info/2015/10/12/queen-bee-introduction-postal-cage/) - Introducing a new queen bee can be ticklish - especially if she has spent a few days in the post and gone off lay. Here's the best way
- [Keeping Bees isn't Rocket Science...](http://beespoke.info/2017/04/09/keeping-bees-isnt-rocket-science/) - ...it's much more difficult than that!
- [Bee Flower - Coltsfoot](http://beespoke.info/2017/03/09/bee-flower-coltsfoot/) - Coltsfoot is an Irish native and a member of the aster family - their asterness is obvious in this header photograph.
- [Michaelmas - Bees and Wintering](http://beespoke.info/2015/09/29/michaelmas-bees-and-wintering/) - Aim to have your bees winter-ready by Michaelmas. Remember - the better you prepare your bees for the winter, the stronger they will be next spring.
- [First Swarm](http://beespoke.info/2015/05/20/first-swarm/) - Your first swarm is something you never forget. We'd done the course, joined the local association the come spring - we bought 2 nucs ...
- [Honey Powered Sourdough Recipe](http://beespoke.info/2016/11/02/honey-powered-sourdough-recipe/) - Sourdough is bread that uses wild, local yeasts as raising agents. But how do you capture those wild yeasts? Look no further than local honey!
- [How to Breed Varroa Resistant Bees](http://beespoke.info/2015/09/24/breeding-varroa-resistant-bees/) - Finding Varroa-resistant bees to breed from can be a challenge. Here are several different methods - from the meticulous to the downright ruthless...
- [Bee Skep Making Course 2016](http://beespoke.info/2016/09/12/bee-skep-making-course-2016/) - Learn how to make your own straw bee skep this autumn and never lose another swarm!
- [White Eyed Worker Bee](http://beespoke.info/2016/09/27/white-eyed-worker-bees/) - Drones have a single set of chromosomes so any genetic mutations are out there for all to see - like white eyes. But what about the workers?
- [White Eyed Drone](http://beespoke.info/2016/05/27/white-eyed-drone/) - Excuse the manky gloves - but look at this white eyed drone! Apparently white eyed drones are blind so at least this chap can see with one eye.
- [Arnia Remote Hive Monitoring Data](http://beespoke.info/2016/03/26/arnia-remote-monitoring-data/) - Since installing the Arnia hive monitors two weeks ago the following reassuring data has come in so I don't have to worry - just yet
- [Fighting Queen Bees](http://beespoke.info/2016/06/25/fighting-queen-bees/) - Here are some photo's of several queen bees on the one frame. Then two of them start to fight like Jack Russell terriers:
- [Varroa Floor Flaw](http://beespoke.info/2016/07/01/varroa-floor-flaw/) - There are many benefits to a Varroa floor but there are also snags and an unexpected flaw.
- [Small Hive Beetle (SHB) Control](http://beespoke.info/2014/10/31/small-hive-beetle-control/) - Do you know what to do when you find Small Hive Beetle scuttling about amongst your bees? Find out here...
- [Small Hive Beetle (SHB) Prevention](http://beespoke.info/2014/11/07/small-hive-beetle-prevention/) - Small Hive Beetle (SHB) is in Europe, member states now have the power to ban imports to protect their resident bees and beekeepers. Here it is...
- [Summer Oxalic Acid Varroa Treatment](http://beespoke.info/2014/12/21/summer-oxalic-acid-varroa-treatment/) - Oxalic acid tends to be used mid-winter but that's not the only time bees are broodless. Here's how to use it in summer...
- [Ancistrocerus nigrocornis?](http://beespoke.info/2016/05/19/ancistrocerus-nigrocornis/) - Look at this glamorous, bespangled wasp and tell me - is this Ancistrocerus nigrocornis? Click here for more about Irish wasps Copyright © Beespoke.info, 2016. All Rights Reserved.
- [Bee flowers - Berberis](http://beespoke.info/2016/04/11/bee-flowers-berberis/) - Berberis darwinii is a great shrub for honey bees - yeilding a nice supply of early nectar and ample greenish pollen early in the year.
- [Remote Bee Hive Monitoring](http://beespoke.info/2016/02/18/remote-bee-hive-monitoring/) - There is no substitute for apiary visits but remote hive monitoring linked to the mother ship over the mobile network could forewarn and forearm your trip.
- [Remote hive monitoring in action](http://beespoke.info/2016/04/15/arnia-remote-hive-monitoring-action/) - Remote hive monitoring system should give the armchair beekeeper some measure of comfort - especially in a cold spring. However, it ain't necessarily so!
- [Arnia Remote Hive Monitors - Set Up](http://beespoke.info/2016/03/04/how-to-set-up-your-arnia-monitors/) - Arnia hive monitoring kits consist of several components with an interface in the cloud. Setting up isn't difficult but do it at home. Here's why and how...
- [Arnia Remote Hive Monitors - Installing](http://beespoke.info/2016/03/18/arnia-remote-hive-monitors-installing/) - Make sure you have a mobile signal at your apiary. If you don't check this, your carefully assembled set-up may have to be carefully disassembled.
- [Useful Arnia Hive Scale Data](http://beespoke.info/2016/05/12/useful-arnia-hive-scale-data/) - At this time of the year (spring) Arnia remote hive monitoring really comes into its own.
- [Shook Swarm](http://beespoke.info/2016/03/20/shook-swarm/) - The shook swarm can be used for comb replacement, disease control and to turbo-charge bees. It may appear brutal but it works. Here's what you do:
- [Diseases of Bees - an Overview](http://beespoke.info/2014/02/25/diseases-of-bees-an-overview/) - An overview of the diseases of honey bees: learn when to look, how recognise them and know what to do when you do!
- [Honey Labelling Regulations](http://beespoke.info/2016/02/26/honey-labelling-regulations/) - If you are selling your honey from shops or market stalls it must be labelled. There are regulations regarding what should be on the label. Here they are...
- [Winter Oxalic Acid Varroa Treatment](http://beespoke.info/2013/12/18/oxalic-acid-varroa-treatment/) - When shortest day is upon us, there is a brief broodless period in the honeybee colony when conditions are right for oxalic acid treatment.
- [Beekeeping for Beginners Course 2016](http://beespoke.info/2015/12/07/beekeeping-for-beginners-course-2016/) - South Kildare Beekeepers 'Beekeeping for Beginners' Course starts 22nd February 2016 in Athy, Co.Kildare. Also taking bookings for Christmas presents.
- [Make Your Own Scale Hive](http://beespoke.info/2016/01/19/make-your-own-scale-hive/) - Scale hives can be expensive especially the electronic sort. However, you can easily make one yourself from wood, mirrors and bathroom scales. Here's how...
- [Which Frames?](http://beespoke.info/2015/02/03/which-frames/) - There is a lot of bewilderment over which frames to use but there shouldn't be, once you understand what the different types are designed to do.
- [Beekeeping for Beginners Course 2015](http://beespoke.info/2015/02/12/beekeeping-for-beginners/) - South Kildare Beekeepers Association annual 'Beekeeping for Beginners' Course starts on Monday 23rd February 2015, 7.30 Athy, Co.Kildare.
- [How to Feed a Winter Apidea](http://beespoke.info/2015/01/10/how-to-feed-a-winter-apidea/) - If you are overwintering an Apidea keep a close eye on the stores - especially in a mild winter when the queen may start to lay early. If it feels light...
- [Bee Basics - Mid-Winter Feeding](http://beespoke.info/2014/12/30/midwinter-feeding/) - The deep midwinter is a good time to visit your bees and Christmas day is perfect. If you have lots of bees you can spin this out for a long time.
- [Bee Basics - Which Feeder?](http://beespoke.info/2015/11/23/which-bee-feeder/) - Which feeder? Bee feeders vary in complexity, price, feed capacity, bee capacity and feed speed; some you can make yourself & some you shouldn't even try!
- [Honey with Gin Innit](http://beespoke.info/2015/11/01/honey-with-gin-innit/) - Here's a honey recipe to help you forget your colds or flu or whatever it is that ails you. Repeat as often as necessary. Cheers!
- [Hooper's Five Questions](http://beespoke.info/2015/02/18/hoopers-five-questions/) - Ted Hooper's five questions - from his book 'Guide to Bees and Honey' were devised to walk the beekeeper through his or her weekly inspections.
- [Quick queen bee introduction - Paper Bag Method](http://beespoke.info/2015/06/27/queen-bee-introduction-paper-bag-method/) - Introducing a new queen can be a tedious long-winded process. Here's a quick one-hour method. Yes, it works - I've tried it. Here's what you do...
- [Spring Pollen Substitute](http://beespoke.info/2014/02/11/spring-pollen-substitute/) - This is a recipe for an emergency pollen substitute which I used last spring. It saved several hives of bees which would otherwise have fizzled out.
- [Thought for the Day](http://beespoke.info/2013/11/20/thought-for-the-day-3/) - Procrastination is the mother of invention.
- [December Bees](http://beespoke.info/2013/12/01/december-bees/) - It's December, eight degrees C and the bees are very busy - quite a loud hum out there. The ivy is still flowering and there is the usual horrible smell if you stand anywhere near it so we have to assume the bees are still working it. And they have the car windscreen well spattered
- [Varroa - the Basics](http://beespoke.info/2013/12/19/varroa/) - Varroa and the associated problems, direct and indirect, are the scourge of beekeeping and are unlikely to be solved soon. The life cycle of Varroa is horrible...
- [Swarming and How to Control it](http://beespoke.info/2014/05/18/swarm-control/) - Swarm control is what you do when your swarm prevention failed - that's when you discover larvae in queen cells. Welcome to firefighting!
- [Moisture Content of Honey](http://beespoke.info/2015/09/08/irish-honey-moisture-content/) - Get this: - the moisture content of ripe honey (~17%) is about the same as fully ripe cereals (
- [Hiving a Swarm](http://beespoke.info/2015/05/26/hiving-a-swarm/) - Hiving a swarm is usually a trouble-free operation but it can all go horribly wrong. Here are a few points to bear in mind...
- [How to hive a swarm: the Pretty Way](http://beespoke.info/2015/05/25/how-to-hive-a-swarm-the-pretty-way/) - Here's how to do it the traditional way with a ramp and a sheet. It's probably the slowest method but well worth doing at least once for the spectacle!
- [Marmalade Oranges](http://beespoke.info/2014/01/10/marmalade-oranges/) - Seville oranges are in the shops so now really is the time to get out and buy a few. Get organic if you can - they cook more quickly and the flavour is better. Honey Marmalade recipe here. Copyright © Beespoke.info, 2014. All Rights Reserved.
- [How to Stop Robbing Bees or Wasps](http://beespoke.info/2015/08/25/how-to-stop-robbing-bees/) - August is a wicked month - summer flows are over and bees will beg, borrow or steal to build up for winter. Here's how to stop them robbing
- [Irish Queen Bees for Sale](http://beespoke.info/2015/06/22/native-irish-queen-bees-for-sale/) - Irish queen bees for sale. Selected for good temperament, productivity and low-swarming. Ready now
- [How to hive a swarm: the Easy Way](http://beespoke.info/2015/05/23/easy-way-to-hive-a-swarm/) - Here's the quickest, easiest way to hive a swarm...
- [Importance of Pollen](http://beespoke.info/2015/04/02/importance-of-pollen/) - Bees cannot live on honey alone. They also require the protein, fats, minerals and the miscellaneous dietary supplements found in pollen.
- [What to do with queenless Apideas](http://beespoke.info/2015/05/12/uniting-queenless-apideas/) - An annual quandry for beekeepers is what to do with your queenless Apideas at the end of the queen-rearing season. Here's a solution...
- [How to overwinter an Apidea](http://beespoke.info/2014/10/16/how-to-overwinter-an-apidea/) - Is anything so sad as an Apidea dwinding into winter with laying workers and a bellyful of slugs? There are alternatives...
- [How to hive a swarm: the No Frills Way](http://beespoke.info/2015/05/26/how-to-hive-a-swarm-the-brutal-way/) - The no-frills method to hive a swarm is also known as the Brutal way. Here's how it's done...
- [Swarm control - Demaree](http://beespoke.info/2015/03/10/swarm-control-demaree/) - The Demaree is a very effective method of preventing swarms but it'll only work on strong colonies with no queen cells. Here's how it's done...
- [Hawthorn Honey](http://beespoke.info/2014/06/05/hawthorn-honey/) - There is a heavy crop of hawthorn honey this year. Pollen is a pale cream colour but you'll know if you've got hawthorn honey because you will smell it!
- [Chilli Honey Recipe](http://beespoke.info/2015/05/16/chilli-honey-recipe/) - Here's a recipe for chilli honey that'll blow your socks off but you'll need really hot chillis for this, not the namby-pamby supermarket sort.
- [How to find the Queen](http://beespoke.info/2015/04/23/how-to-find-the-queen/) - Finding an unmarked queen is difficult enough so getting her marked early in the season is vital for what comes later. Here's how it's done...
- [Overheating Apideas](http://beespoke.info/2014/06/26/overheating-apideas/) - Apideas can easily overheat on a sunny day - here's an easy way to cool them down and stop them from absconding
- [The Beekeeper's Cat](http://beespoke.info/2015/03/11/the-beekeepers-cat/) - This is Lily, the beekeeper's cat keeping an eye on the bees and yes she knows all about stings.
- [Make your own Snelgrove Board](http://beespoke.info/2015/03/11/make-your-own-snelgrove-board/) - A Snelgrove board need not be an expensive addition to the beekeeper's armoury. Here's how to make your own.
- [MAQStrips  - Do they work?](http://beespoke.info/2015/04/24/maqstrips-do-they-work/) - MAQS was the Great White Hope but the results this spring are not great - has something unexpected interfered or were our expectations unrealistic?
- [Apiguard Eke](http://beespoke.info/2015/04/20/apiguard-eke/) - If you use Apiguard - be sure not to leave the eke on over winter or if you do, make sure get back to it before the dandelions do!
- [How to unite bees - the Newspaper Method](http://beespoke.info/2015/01/05/uniting-bees-newspaper-method/) - There are many scenarios when you may need to unite two honeybee colonies. Often the newspaper method is your only man but there are others...
- [November Ivy](http://beespoke.info/2014/11/21/november-ivy/) - It's amazing that the ivy came into bloom in early August this year and it is still flowering and the bees are working it 3 months later!
- [How to start a Powerpoint Slide-show](http://beespoke.info/2014/12/10/how-to-start-a-powerpoint-slide-show/) - When you open a Powerpoint slide show or animation, to get the thing to run - click 'Slideshow'. You'll find this along the top bar where it goes 'Home Insert Design Transitions Animations' then 'Slideshow' Then click 'From the beginning' which, with luck and a following wind, will now be top far left. Next, either

## Pages

- [Welcome](http://beespoke.info/) - Beespoke.info is a growing information miscellany for beekeepers and people who are interested in bees or honey. Includes seasonal blow-by-blow bee-blog
- [Make your own Skep](http://beespoke.info/how-to-make-your-own-skep-3/) - Full instructions on how to make your own straw or grass skep, method, tools and materials.
- [Native Bee](http://beespoke.info/native-bee/) - The native Irish honey bee is a specialist - evolved over thousands of years to thrive in the Irish climate and now threatened by imported and hybrid bees.
- [Home Sweet Home](http://beespoke.info/about-2/) - About making a small country living from the sale of bees, skeps, honey and beeswax and associated cottage-industry products such as candles, polish etc.
- [Queen Rearing Groups](http://beespoke.info/queen-rearing-groups/) - Here are some links to posts about native Irish bee breeding and queen rearing methods particularly relevant to queen rearing groups
- [Pollen Load Colours](http://beespoke.info/pollen-loads/) - Identify the source of your bees' pollen loads. Here are some photographs of bees caught in the act of gathering pollen.
- [Index](http://beespoke.info/post-index/) - Full alphabetical index of postings

## Categories

- [Uncategorized](http://beespoke.info/category/uncategorized/)
- [Skeps](http://beespoke.info/category/skeps/)
- [Recipes](http://beespoke.info/category/recipes/)
- [Queen Rearing](http://beespoke.info/category/native-bee/queen-rearing/)
- [Beeswax](http://beespoke.info/category/beeswax/)
- [Honey](http://beespoke.info/category/honey/)
- [Bee Breeding](http://beespoke.info/category/native-bee/bee-breeding/)
- [Native Bee](http://beespoke.info/category/native-bee/)
- [Bee Basics](http://beespoke.info/category/beeginers/)
- [Things to do in October](http://beespoke.info/category/october/)
- [Things to do in July](http://beespoke.info/category/july/)
- [Forage](http://beespoke.info/category/forage/)
- [Unfinished](http://beespoke.info/category/unfinished/)
- [Things to do in November](http://beespoke.info/category/things-to-do-in-november/)
- [Candles](http://beespoke.info/category/candles/)
- [Equipment](http://beespoke.info/category/hardware/)
- [Things to do in December](http://beespoke.info/category/things-to-do-in-december/)
- [Things to do in April](http://beespoke.info/category/things-to-do-in-april/)
- [Things to do in May](http://beespoke.info/category/things-to-do-in-may/)
- [Things to do in January](http://beespoke.info/category/things-to-do-in-january/)
- [Disease](http://beespoke.info/category/disease/)
- [Life](http://beespoke.info/category/life/)
- [Things to do in February](http://beespoke.info/category/things-to-do-in-february/)
- [Things to do in March](http://beespoke.info/category/things-to-do-in-march/)
- [Things to do in June](http://beespoke.info/category/things-to-do-in-june/)
- [Pollen Load Colours](http://beespoke.info/category/pollen-load-colours/) - Photo’s showing the colours of bees’ pollen loads
- [Spring Management](http://beespoke.info/category/spring-management/)
- [Swarming](http://beespoke.info/category/swarming/)
- [Things to do in August](http://beespoke.info/category/things-to-do-in-august/)
- [Things to do in September](http://beespoke.info/category/things-to-do-in-september/)
- [Small HIve Beetle](http://beespoke.info/category/small-hive-beetle/)
- [Apideas](http://beespoke.info/category/apideas/)
- [Bee Trees](http://beespoke.info/category/bee-trees/)
- [Arnia](http://beespoke.info/category/arnia/)
- [Heather](http://beespoke.info/category/heather/)
- [Pollen](http://beespoke.info/category/pollen/)

## Tags

- [Propolis](http://beespoke.info/tag/propolis/)
- [Books](http://beespoke.info/tag/books/)
- [Beginners](http://beespoke.info/tag/beginners/)
- [Philosophy](http://beespoke.info/tag/philosophy/)
- [Pollen](http://beespoke.info/tag/pollen/)
- [Frames](http://beespoke.info/tag/frames/)
- [Foundation](http://beespoke.info/tag/foundation/)
- [Maintainance](http://beespoke.info/tag/maintainance/)
- [Heather Honey](http://beespoke.info/tag/heather-honey/)
- [Apideas](http://beespoke.info/tag/apideas/)
- [Temperature](http://beespoke.info/tag/temperature/)
- [Marmalade](http://beespoke.info/tag/marmalade/)
- [Preserves](http://beespoke.info/tag/preserves/)
- [Politics](http://beespoke.info/tag/politics/)
- [Comedy](http://beespoke.info/tag/comedy/)
- [Swarm Control](http://beespoke.info/tag/swarm-control/)
- [Cuckoo Clock](http://beespoke.info/tag/cuckoo-clock/)
- [Wasps](http://beespoke.info/tag/wasps/)
- [Calories](http://beespoke.info/tag/calories/)
- [Varroa](http://beespoke.info/tag/varroa/)
- [Oxalic acid](http://beespoke.info/tag/oxalic-acid/)
- [Wintering](http://beespoke.info/tag/wintering/)
- [Entomology](http://beespoke.info/tag/entomology/)
- [Ecology](http://beespoke.info/tag/ecology/)
- [Birdwatching](http://beespoke.info/tag/birdwatching/)
- [Skin](http://beespoke.info/tag/skin/)
- [Wildlife](http://beespoke.info/tag/wildlife/)
- [Trickle](http://beespoke.info/tag/trickle/)
- [Vapour](http://beespoke.info/tag/vapour/)
- [Skin and Hair](http://beespoke.info/tag/skin-and-hair/)
- [Drones](http://beespoke.info/tag/drones/)
- [Pheromones](http://beespoke.info/tag/pheromones/)
- [Feeding](http://beespoke.info/tag/feeding/)
- [Recipes](http://beespoke.info/tag/recipes/)
- [Beeswax](http://beespoke.info/tag/beeswax/)