BEEKEEPING

Even in my short time I reckon the season has increased by three to four weeks, with both the beginning and the end being extended by one to two weeks.

When I started keeping bees, you were doing well if you averaged 30lb of honey per colony, then oil seed rape (OSR) became a regular crop for farmers.

The early varieties flowered for around eight weeks and it was quite possible to average 100lb of honey, although not without problems, as OSR granulates rapidly and has to be extracted quickly otherwise it goes solid in the combs.

This means two extracting sessions for beekeepers instead of one.

The modern varieties flower for around four weeks, and the colony average has dropped back to around 60lb.

In the old days there were many 'let alone' beekeepers who would simply put the supers on in the spring and take them off in the autumn, feed the colony, and that was their beekeeping.

For a variety of reasons this can no longer be done.

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette September 19