Photos from our Apiary
Each hive supports a remarkable community of around 50,000 bees, functioning together as a single, highly organised colony.
At the base of the hive is the brood box, the true heart of the colony. This is where the queen lives and lays her eggs, and where young bees are raised through their early stages of life. The brood box also holds essential reserves of pollen and honey to sustain the developing brood.
Above the brood box sit one or more stacked boxes fitted with removable frames. These are known as supers and are used exclusively for honey storage. As nectar flows increase through the season, the bees steadily fill these frames with honey. When fully capped and ready for harvest, each super can weigh up to 25 kg, a testament to the colony’s productivity.
Last year, each hive carried 10 supers, an exceptional yield by any standard.
We harvest our honey twice a year—once in the spring and again later in the summer. Each harvest is subtly different in both colour and flavour, reflecting the changing landscape as the bees forage on spring blossoms and summer flowers.
Elizabeth. Our main Queen
This is how you start a hive, with a good 6 frame Nuc
Brood - baby bee eggs
Honey capped and ready to extract
The bees filled up an entire brood box last year, we couldn't lift it off the hive
Honey capped and ready to extract
Fresh eggs
A swam tried to move into one of our hives
Gun Hill Hives