Juanse

> Nationally, the British Beekeepers' Association has warned honey prices 
> are
> likely to rise by up to 50p per 340g pot because bee colonies have been
> prevented from foraging for food because of heavy summer downpours.

Very misleading.  The western parts of the UK have done badly because it has 
been very wet.  The eastern parts have been too dry.  Here in the Midlands 
we have had an exceptionally good year - except for July which was very wet 
and saw colonies go backwards.

Colonies overwintered well and the spring build-up was good.  May and June - 
our best months for honey gathering - were almost as good as it gets. 
Colonies expanded well and looked better than for many years.  This 
justifies my own assertions that UK problems over the past two or three 
years have been mainly down to the weather.

There were problems with queen mating at the very beginning of May when the 
was a short cold spell, and throughout July due to the very wet weather.  So 
colonies that swarmed in late April or at the end of June ran into 
difficulties.  Other than that, queens have mated well this year.

Now we have some colonies on the heather moors and again things are looking 
good - so far they have had two very good weeks.  Not so sure about the 
situation in Scotland where I believe that the weather has been a bit more 
mixed.  We should remember that August and December are statistically the 
wettest months in the UK.
Best wishes

Peter Edwards
beekeepers at stratford-upon-avon.freeserve.co.uk
www.stratford-upon-avon.freeserve.co.uk/

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