Three Hares Honey

Hello my friends. I realise you haven't heard much from me on Facebook this season. Following our relocation from Hampshire to Devon, I was determined to do things differently. I had become increasingly more uncomfortable with the 'conventional' way in which I was keeping my bees. I wanted to revisit my beekeeping priorities and consider if I could be doing things differently. Better, perhaps? I made the decision to reduce my colonies further and minimise my practical beekeeping this year to allow me time and space to explore what it might mean to be a more sustainable, responsible, ethical beekeeper.

Over the last 12 months, I have been reading new books, studying old ones, attending courses and conferences, thinking deeply, and speaking with beekeepers and bee scientists from all parts of the beekeeping spectrum, from the completely natural to the fully commercial. From those keeping bees in hollowed out logs and straw baskets to those using polystyrene and plastic hives. I have been documenting my journey in monthly instalments in Bee Craft Magazine. There is tremendous warmth and generosity within the bee community and I have learned an enormous amount through this process, but at the same time feel like I have barely scratched the surface! There is clearly no one-size-fits-all approach to keeping bees, but I am slowly developing my own 'personal beekeeping philosophy'.

I have also been editing 'The Buzz' newsletter of the British Bee Veterinary Association (https://britishbeevets.com/news/buzz/), contributing to blogs such as The Beelistener by the brilliant Ann Chilcott and writing book reviews for Vet Record and The Beekeepers Quarterly. I'm also delighted to have featured in The Veterinary Edge and Bee Culture Magazine. Last month, I was humbled to be elected to Fellowship of the The Royal Entomological Society.

So, what's next? Well, I hope you will be seeing more of me again as I start to slowly rebuild my colonies, but with a difference. I will be putting into practice some of the lessons I have learned and experimenting with different ways of keeping bees. Some of this will involve simple tweaks to my current methods and minor modifications to my existing equipment. Other approaches will be entirely new to me. This is not something I will be able to do alone and I look forward to introducing you to some friends along the way. Oh, and there might be some mead-making and candle pouring too...

I am not for one second suggesting that my way will be the 'right way' - or that everything I do will be a success - but I warmly welcome you on the next phase of the journey.

Northern Bee Books British Veterinary Association - BVA RCVS - Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons BBKA - The British Beekeepers Association The National Honey Show Bees for Development

Oooh a VERY exciting parcel just arrived all the way from the Highlands of Scotland. Perfect timing as I'm preparing a talk for an online conference this afternoon! Thank you Ann Chilcott it is very generous (and delicious) of you! It was fun to get work together on a www.beelistener.co.uk blog, I hope we can do it again sometime 😊

Now, the question is, do I tell my family there were two boxes in the package...? 🤔 😁

tarts
(Lush Designs )

I grew up in a farming community in rural Norfolk and have always been fascinated by . Understanding how food and farming have shaped, and continue to shape, our environment, our identity, our language, and culture.

Yesterday evening, I had the great pleasure of listening to Dan Saladino (BBC Radio 4 Food Programme) tell some of his food stories at the University of Exeter. His new book, Eating to Extinction, is in equal parts moving, inspiring, harrowing and hopeful. There are many parallels with Dave Goulson's 'Silent Earth'.

It is difficult to fully comprehend the complexity of global food system and the enormity of the challenge to change it, but it is clear that greater diversity is good for the environment, good for food security and good for our health. There are individuals and communities rekindling traditional methods, rediscovering and reclaiming their food culture, conserving genetic resources and working with the environment, rather than imposing themselves on it.

These are not some dreamy-eyed acts of nostalgia. They are taking the wisdom of countless generations and integrating it with modern technology to help solve the very real and immediate problems of today. Over a few short decades, we have massively underestimated the complexity of the system we have tried to replace and, at the same time, overestimated our ability to control it without consequence. The homogenisation of our food, farming and culture leaves us, and the environment, precariously vulnerable, particularly in the face of emerging infectious diseases and our changing climate.

It is easy to feel paralysed by the thought that anything we do as individuals is utterly futile in the face of such a challenge. Nevertheless, we can all start small, locally, with our families, communities and other groups where we have influence and can make a difference – however small it may seem. There are many inspiring examples of people doing just this - and we had the privilege of hearing from a few based in the south-west who are literally building from the ground up. As a vet and beekeeper, my very small contribution is encouraging people to think about how they keep bees and consider ways in which we can be more responsible and sustainable beekeepers. I’d love to hear your food stories!

My thanks to Prof Harry West and the Exeter Food network for hosting the event.

Hello from Devon! After a long winter, it has finally been warm enough to check in on the bees. The blossom is out and the colonies are building up nicely in the Killerton orchard.

I have been busy planning and writing. You may have seen my monthly column in Bee Craft Magazine 'Chasing Sunbeams', where I am discussing my ongoing journey to becoming a more responsible and sustainable beekeeper. I look forward to sharing this with you and putting it into action as the season progresses.

I am also honoured to have been invited to contribute a guest article to The Beelistener (https://www.beelistener.co.uk/bee-health/honey-bee-health-welfare-dr-chris-palgrave-comments/). This is an excellent weekly blog by the fantastic and hugely knowledgeable Scottish Expert Beemaster, Ann Chilcott. I strongly recommend you subscribe!

Honey Bee Health & Welfare: Dr Chris Palgrave Comments. Dr Chris Palgrave shares his expertise and passion for animal health and welfare by focussing on honey bees

Hello everyone! I’d like to wish you all a very happy (and embarrassingly belated) New Year. After a particularly challenging relocation experience during lockdown, I’m happy to report that both my family and the bees are now settled in our new home in Devon. We can start to look to the future.

Changes are afoot at Three Hares Honey. The move has given me the opportunity to re-evaluate my beekeeping practice and priorities. We have also decided to rebalance life as a family, which is long overdue. I will be working fewer hours at the ‘day job’ and am excited to be able to spend more time being an active parent and taking on a much fairer share of domestic duties. My wife is looking forward to spending several days a week focusing on developing her business.

This new work-life family pattern will also open up a little more time for bees and bee-related activities. Although I had a successful fledgling business in Hampshire selling single hive origin honey, I was also experiencing a nagging disquiet in the back of my mind that had been getting steadily louder. The relationship between my bees and I was feeling a little one-sided. After 8 years (still a relative beginner in beekeeper terms), my beekeeping practice was no longer well aligned with my evolving personal beekeeping philosophy.

So, rather than jump straight back in where I left off, I have decided to take a step back and consider in depth how I keep my bees, what it is reasonable to expect from them and what impact my management decisions may be having on their welfare as well as the surrounding environment, including other pollinators. What parts of my initial beekeeper training still serve me well and where might I now choose a different path? Part of this journey is going to be documented in Bee Craft Magazine. To be clear, this isn’t about me telling people how they should keep their bees. This is a personal journey towards discovering what it means, to me, to be a more responsible, sustainable, and ethical beekeeper.

I warmly welcome you on the next stage of the Three Hares journey. I know I won’t get everything right and I don’t expect everyone to agree with me. However, I hope we can have a conversation along the way and discover points of consensus that allow us to enjoy our rich and rewarding hobby as well as improve the lives of our bees, other pollinators and the environment we share.

EDIT: The hive in the photo is a solid oak Layens hive. The walls are 38mm thick to provide extra insulation. It is used as a single box with deep frames (no honey supers). It was built by a friend who is a keen hobby carpenter/woodworker.

As we reach the halfway point at The National Honey Show 2021 we have been treated to cutting-edge science as well as lectures and classes deeply-rooted in many decades of practical experience. We are surrounded by inspiring exhibits, beekeping friends and temptation in the form of the many stalls overflowing with things you never knew you needed!

This has also been a remarkably brave lecture programme so far. Facing up to and grappling with some of the most important and thorniest issues facing beekeepers today. From climate change, ecotoxicity, loss of forage/biodiversity, pandemics, pathogens and pollinator decline to acknowledging that modern beekeeping practice is, in many ways, in conflict with the bees' instinctive behaviour and natural selection pressures.

Conventional hives, while convenient for the beekeeper, are inefficient, requiring colonies to collect and consume extraordinary amounts of nectar to maintain appropriate conditions, before any surplus can be stored as honey. Colony densities are also so high in some (particularly urban) areas, that the environment can barely yield sufficient nectar to support the honeybees let alone other insect populations.

An enormous amount of food for thought - and this is only a tiny snapshot of what has been covered. I look forward to hearing the discussions that emerge and getting a sense of how it has been received. The question is, what should we do as individuals and members of the wider beekeeping community in light of all this information?

...and so it begins! CPD for beekeepers. The official opening of the 90th The National Honey Show. Three days of lectures, workshops and the opportunity to catch up with old beekeeping friends and make new ones - as well as a chance to finally meet those who have only been a name/photo online!

Oh, and not to forget all the bargains to be had in the Trade Hall downstairs AND the social calendar - I'm already looking forward to the Bees for Development Fun Bee Quiz tomorrow evening 😀

Following on from my last post on traditional , I have just returned from another fantastic Bees for Development weekend course - this time learning how to make , and ! Once again, Chris Park was a great teacher, both on the practicalities of construction and their rich historical and cultural context. It was held at the Yew Tree Peterstow, surrounded by orchards and with the smell of ripe apples heavy on the autumnal air. It also happens to be home of Ross On Wye Cider & Perry Co. and an outstanding pub!

Skeps are made from a single coil of tightly bound with (rattan) lapping cane or, traditionally, bramble briars or split willow. This is an ancient technique known as 'lip work'. The stalks of most modern wheat varieties are very short, whereas heritage varieties grown for are much taller and their long straw is ideal for skep making.

Given their straw construction, skeps need to be protected from the weather over winter. The traditional method was to bind bundles of straw into a thick mat which is wrapped around the skep to create a robust teepee-shaped cover resembling the hackles on a cockerel's (rooster's) neck. Alternatively, skeps can be housed in alcoves in a wall ('bee boles') or protected using the outer wall units ('lifts') of a WBC hive (or other suitable cover).

As with any approach, traditional skep beekeeping presents certain challenges and may not be for everyone. However, there are valuable lessons to be learned from managing bees in systems which are designed primarily for the benefit of their inhabitants and not necessarily for human convenience or maximum productivity. Many of these principles remain relevant today and can be applied in varying degrees across the beekeeping spectrum.

Three Hares Honey is evolving and as part of this process we will be exploring different beekeeping approaches, including those which require fewer interventions and manipulations. We will also have an opportunity to consider our beekeeping priorities and discuss broader matters surrounding , and the in which we all live.

Bees for Devopment runs a range of excellent courses, the income from which supports their important work with some of the poorest communities in the world. By promoting beekeeping, they are able to help combat , build resilient livelihoods and benefit . They also campaign for the restoration of and habitat, including , here in the UK. Please do take a look at their website, vist their 'Bee Hive Garden of Arabia' at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2021 or meet them at the The National Honey Show.

Finally, if you do find yourself at a future course in , I can highly recommend Broome farm B&B! You will be welcomed like family and treated to a wonderful farmhouse breakfast!

BBKA - The British Beekeepers Association Natural Bee Husbandry Northern Bee Books Bee Craft Magazine

A fascinating, informative and inspiring course on run by expert skeppist Chris Park (www.acorneducation.com) on behalf of Bees for Development. While it is possible to read about this ancient form of bee husbandry, it is now rare to see it in practice. Like all systems of beekeeping, skeps have their disadvantages, however there is also much to be said for this environmentally-friendly, bee-centric and effective method of keeping bees, which has been successfully practiced for millennia.

While skeps and skep-informed beekeeping may not suit everyone, I believe there is still an important place for them, their rich history and the lessons they have to teach us, within the broad beekeeping family of today. They will certainly be part of the future at Three Hares Honey.

Now to learn how to make one of these iconic straw structures… luckily there are a couple of BfD skep-making courses coming up later this year as well as Chris's workshops at The National Honey Show!

BBKA - The British Beekeepers Association Bee Craft Magazine Northern Bee Books Living Beeing

Today was an exciting and very interesting day. Most beekeepers have heard of a horizontal top bar hive (TBH). These are usually trough-shaped hives with a series of top bars onto which bees build roughly-semicircular natural comb (i.e. without frames or foundation). The brood nest is typically situated at one end (near the entrance) and the honey is stored at the opposite end. Extra bars are added as the colony expands.

I have had the opportunity to look inside a few TBHs, but today was my first experience of 'cathedral hives'. These are hand-built works of art. Instead of a standard flat top bar, the top bars of the cathedral hive are three-sided and form an arch (half a hexagon), reminiscent of a cathedral's vaulted ceiling, onto which the bees build their comb. As it is attached on three surfaces, the comb is much more securely fastened than in a standard TBH The bars also have the holes drilled horizontally through them to provide a passage for the bees. I suspect they may also use the channels for ventilation purposes.

I think it is fair to say that most top bar beekeepers have a 'low intervention' policy compared to 'conventional' beekeepers. That said, they do still need to be inspected from time to time. After a particularly challenging start to the season, today was a good opportunity to see how these colonies were doing, perform a disease inspection, assess their stores and available space. I'm happy to report that the bees were in great shape, the colonies were strong with lots of drones and plenty of pollen and nectar coming in. We took the opportunity to remove some dark comb and add fresh top bars for them to expand into.

There is, of course, a fascinating and multifaceted debate to be had about managing bees in different ways and in different types of hive. However, wherever you sit in the broad spectrum of opinion, I can assure you it was a privilege to have the opportunity to see these beautiful hives in operation and to gain more insight into managing bees in this novel horizontal system.



BBKA - The British Beekeepers Association Bee Craft Magazine

We are thrilled to announce the British Bee Veterinary Association May 2021 Online Webinar Series - generously sponsored by Northern Bee Books, E.H. Thorne (Beehives) Ltd and Vita Bee Health.

On May 5th with Dr Chris Palgrave MRCVS of the BBVA and Three Hares Honey is speaking on European Foulbrood. https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_dB38Yj3cRG-jdX5TQOPPqw

On May 13th we have Dr Nicholas Vidal-Naquet DVM from Paris talking about Biosecurity and Apiculture. Nicolas wrote an excellent book called Honeybee Veterinary Medicine (5m Books). https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_icfhetV2QmmoOfRqS6NQ7w

On 20th May Dr Jack Hassett PhD from Limerick Institute of Technology talking on the Genetics of the Irish Honey Bee. There has been a long tradition in Ireland for the black honey bee and Jack has shown that the Irish strain has the best gene pool in Europe and is a very valuable genetic resource. This is a timely talk in view of a recent controversy in relation to bee importation. https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_N5ejyOzXRzCkUcoVjWgdQg