Honey Blog #5
8 October 2025
Hello
Honey Lovers!
Well, Storm Amy certainly let us know that winter is here. I hope you all kept safe! Whenever the winds settled enough, we were out checking to see that our hives hadn’t been damaged. Luckily, we had some warning, which allowed us time to strap them down (depending on the size of the hive, heavy rocks can do the trick too) to prevent them from being knocked over by some of the gusts that reached up to 50mph in Oxfordshire.
Last month, we shared our tips for winter preparation. Now that winter is here, you’re probably wondering what we’re doing?
- Most important is to ensure the hives have enough stores to see them through the next months—primarily by hefting and weighing the hives.
- Next, we continue to check that the hives are safe from predators, for example, by installing mouse guards on hive entrances to keep out the mice who are also looking for somewhere warm with plenty of snacks for winter! And if you’re worried about the cold mice, we recommend a humane approach to managing them. Beekeepers—we do it with kindness!
- And finally, what else can we do but say a little prayer that our bees stay healthy, strong, and clustering up to survive through to next spring!
A beekeeper will also use the winter months to be a better beekeeper! We investigate and learn new techniques which might be useful for the year ahead, we clean the supers, and we build the equipment we might need for the spring.
So, what can you do over winter?! The best thing to do is ensure your stocks of Naked Nectar honey are in – you don’t want to run short when preparing that Christmas honey-glazed ham!
Naked Nectar – Nothing But Honey
Your beekeeper,
Huw
