Springhill Apiaries

A new development at Springhill Apiaries, first set of candles off the production line to be tested, looking lovely even if we say so

Rebranding my honey jar labels. Finished the old roll today and the new labels arrived today so was pushing it a bit there

The smoker, a necessary part of the beekeepers kit for controlling and calming bees when needed. All ready for the new season, some just checked others cleaning, reshaping, riveting, bellows leather replaced

Wax - another beautiful product from the hive

Getting some honey jarred in the honey house

Extracting honey in the new extraction room in the honey house. Looks like honey will be in a shorter supply this year compared to the last two years. Spring still yielded well but the summer honey is going to be lighter

Been busy, building a honey house

Because of the poor weather over the last few days for most hives its been 8+ days since they were checked and they are ready for supers. Some should have had a second by now. Hopefully some good weather for them to get nectar stored and honey produced.

Started feeding fondant today to a few of the lighter ones in this apiary so they don't run out of stores over the winter

A new line 1.5oz jars now available

Uncapping, spinning, straining and settling of honey is almost finished at Springhill Apiaries for this season.

Getting ready to take the honey from the last apiary home, still on as there is a lot of Balsam here. Its been a very good year for honey yields, I think better than last year and it was the best I'd seen.

Extraction of the summer honey is in full swing at Springhill Apiaries

That's the first of the summer honey coming off now, so a busy few weeks ahead. Very light coloured this year from this apiary but tastes good. Mostly Bramble and Lime for the bees at this site

The Spring honey crop. After spinning from the supers and straining the honey is allowed to settle in the settling tanks before it goes into buckets and stored. Now its ready for the next part which will be into the jarring machine :)

Extraction of the spring crop of honey has started at Springhill Apiaries. Looks, smells and tastes delicious and we hope to have it in the jars shortly.

Bees have forage on their doorstep

The bees loving the chance to get some early pollen and nectar on the Oil Seed R**e

Early flowers often provide honey bees with their first fresh pollen which is so good for rearing their brood at this time of year

It's been a busy few weeks. Thanks to all for your business. Happy Christmas everyone.

Just testing the finished product. Its smooth, firm and very tasty, the best way to have honey on toast

Making Soft Set Honey on a small scale and simply. Temperatures are (mostly) below 14 and this makes it easier to make at this time of year.
1. A good bucket of lime flavoured honey is chosen and warmed until there are no crystals remaining to prevent them effecting the smoothness of the finished product.
2. After the run honey has cooled a fine soft set honey is used as the seed and added about 1lb to 10lb of honey. Texture of the seed is more important than the flavour.
3. Using a wooden spoon the seed is mixed thoroughly with the liquid honey avoiding introducing bubbles and then left to settle. It is mixed twice daily in this way for a few days or until the honey has stiffened and it is quite hard to stir.
4. At this point it is jarred while its still pliable and continues to run before it becomes too sluggish.
5. The jars are placed in a cool place to allow the crystallisation to complete which can take up to a few weeks.
Hopefully I’ll have a good flavoured soft set honey ready in a week or so.

New winter home for the smaller colonies in Nucs