Of bees and beekeepers
Clear guides to start beekeeping, keep healthy colonies and choose good honey. No jargon.
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- 01
Beekeeping equipment for beginners: the full UK list, 2026 prices and a real budget
Beekeeping equipment for beginners in the UK: National hive, suit, gloves, smoker, hive tool, feeders, varroa kit, extractor and a 2026 budget in pounds.
- 02
Types of beehives in the UK: National, 14x12, Commercial, WBC, Smith, Langstroth, top-bar and Warré compared
The UK's beehive types compared: National, 14x12, Commercial, WBC, Smith, Langstroth, top-bar and Warré, with dimensions, cell counts, weights and 2026 prices.
- 03
Where to put a beehive in the UK: neighbours, the law, siting, water, drifting and moving hives
Where to put a beehive in the UK: nuisance law and allotment rules, shelter and sun, entrance direction, water, hive layout against drifting and moving hives.
- 04
The honey bee colony: queen, workers and drones, jobs by age, brood timings and how a hive organises itself
How a honey bee colony works, for UK beekeepers: queen, workers and drones, jobs by age, brood timings, winter bees and what to read on a National frame.
Five doors
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The journal
All articles
- Colony health
Asian hornet in the UK: how to identify it, report it and protect your hives
Asian (yellow-legged) hornet in the UK: how to identify it, how to report a sighting, what happens to nests, the 2026 figures and how to protect your hives.
- Through the seasons
Beekeeping calendar: what to do in the apiary month by month in the UK
UK beekeeping calendar month by month: inspections, supers, swarm control, varroa counts, feeding, winter prep and heather, from Kent to Scotland.
- Equipment
Beekeeping equipment for beginners: the full UK list, 2026 prices and a real budget
Beekeeping equipment for beginners in the UK: National hive, suit, gloves, smoker, hive tool, feeders, varroa kit, extractor and a 2026 budget in pounds.
- Honeys
Crystallised honey: why honey sets, how to make it runny again and how to make soft set honey
Crystallised honey is safe to eat. Why honey sets, why oil seed rape sets in days, how to warm it gently, how to make soft set honey and spot fermentation.
- Through the seasons
Feeding bees: sugar syrup, fondant and pollen substitutes, when and how much to give in the UK
Feeding bees in the UK: NBU thick and thin syrup recipes, the 20 kg winter target, fondant, pollen substitutes, feeders, HMF risks and honey and organic rules.
- Harvest and extraction
Harvesting honey in the UK: when to take supers off, extraction, water content and labelling
Harvesting honey in the UK: when supers are ready, clearer boards, extracting, refractometer readings, rape and heather honey, jarring and the labelling rules.
- Honeys
Health benefits of honey: what the evidence shows for coughs, wounds, sugar and diabetes
Health benefits of honey explained: what NICE, the NHS and Cochrane say about coughs, wounds and manuka, plus sugar, calories, diabetes and babies under 1.
- History and culture
History of beekeeping in Britain: from wicker skeps to the National hive
History of beekeeping in Britain: Anglo-Saxon honey rents, Domesday hives, straw skeps and bee boles, the BBKA in 1874, the National hive and varroa in 1992.
- Bee strains
Honey bee breeds in the UK: the native dark bee, Buckfast, Carniolan and Italian compared
Honey bee breeds in the UK: the native dark bee, Buckfast, Carniolan and Italian compared, the genetics behind them, Colonsay, BIBBA and the queen import rules.
- The colony
The honey bee colony: queen, workers and drones, jobs by age, brood timings and how a hive organises itself
How a honey bee colony works, for UK beekeepers: queen, workers and drones, jobs by age, brood timings, winter bees and what to read on a National frame.
- Colony health
Honey bee diseases in the UK: recognising foulbrood, brood diseases, nosema and viruses, and what you must report
Bee diseases in the UK: how to spot AFB and EFB, the rope test, chalkbrood, sacbrood, nosema and CBPV, what is notifiable and how the NBU, SASA and DAERA act.
- Breeding and selection
Honey bee genetics: inheritance, heritability, controlled mating and breeding for varroa resistance in the UK
Honey bee genetics for UK beekeepers: the csd gene, multiple mating, heritability, hygienic and VSH bees, the native black bee and how to improve your stock.
- Bee biology
Honey bee life cycle: egg, larva, pupa, development times for queen, worker and drone, and how long bees live
The honey bee life cycle day by day: egg, larva, pupa, 16, 21 or 24 days by caste, summer and winter lifespans, and what it means at a British hive.
- Choosing and storing
How to choose honey in the UK: labels, origin, blends, prices and what testing really shows
How to choose honey in the UK: read the label and origin, understand blends, spot weak claims, compare local, heather and supermarket prices and store it well.
- Honey recipes
How to make mead at home: a one gallon recipe, from honey to bottle
How to make mead at home in the UK: honey per gallon, gravity readings, yeast and nutrient, a demijohn recipe, racking, bottling and the HMRC rules on selling.
- Getting started
How to start beekeeping in the UK: training, rules, costs and your first year
How to start beekeeping in the UK: an association course, BeeBase, your legal duties, the cost of two National hives in 2026 and your first year month by month.
- Breeding and selection
Instrumental insemination of queen bees: protocol, equipment, success rates and UK rules
Instrumental insemination of honey bee queens in the UK: step-by-step protocol, doses, CO2, equipment and prices in £, success rates, semen storage and the law.
- Hives and apiary
National hive: dimensions, frames, brood box options, supers and cost
The British National hive explained: box and frame dimensions, bottom bee space, brood and a half or 14x12, supers, winter stores, the law and 2026 prices.
- Bee plants
Plants for bees: the best UK flowers, trees, shrubs and hedges for every season
Plants for bees in the UK: a season-by-season list of flowers, trees and hedging, what Sussex and RHS research found, plants to avoid and help for the June gap.
- Hive products
Propolis: what it is, what the evidence shows, allergy risks and UK rules
Propolis explained: how bees make it, its chemistry, what research really shows, why UK law allows no health claims, allergy risks and how to harvest it.
- The colony
Queen bee: what she does, how she is made and mated, how long she lives and how to find her
The queen bee explained for UK beekeepers: her role, queen cells, mating flights, laying, pheromones, lifespan, the 2026 marking colour and queenless hives.
- Breeding and selection
Queen rearing: grafting, cell builders, the day-by-day timetable, mating nucs and selection in the UK
Queen rearing in the UK: larva age for grafting, the NBU queenright cell builder, a day-by-day timetable, the Miller method, Apidea mating nucs and selection.
- Getting started
Register your bees: BeeBase, the Hive Count, reporting varroa and the beekeeper's legal duties in the UK
Do you have to register bees in the UK? BeeBase and DataBees explained, the Hive Count, reporting varroa, notifiable diseases, medicine records and imports.
- Hive products
Royal jelly: what it is, what the evidence shows, allergy risks and UK rules
Royal jelly explained: why bees make it, what science and UK law say about its benefits, who should avoid it due to asthma or allergy, and how to store it.
- Breeding and selection
Swarming: signs, swarm control methods, collecting a swarm and what the law says in the UK
Swarm control in the UK: why bees swarm, queen cell signs, the Pagden artificial swarm and vertical split step by step, collecting a swarm and the law.
- Hives and apiary
Types of beehives in the UK: National, 14x12, Commercial, WBC, Smith, Langstroth, top-bar and Warré compared
The UK's beehive types compared: National, 14x12, Commercial, WBC, Smith, Langstroth, top-bar and Warré, with dimensions, cell counts, weights and 2026 prices.
- Colony health
Varroa mites: monitoring, thresholds, UK-authorised treatments and husbandry control
Varroa in the UK: how the mite kills colonies, NBU monitoring methods and thresholds, VMD-authorised medicines, doses, resistance and the law in each nation.
- Hives and apiary
Warré hive: dimensions, building plans, nadiring, harvest and the law in the UK
The Warré hive for UK beekeepers: box dimensions in mm, building plans, nadiring, crush and strain harvest, varroa medicines, inspections and 2026 prices.
- Hives and apiary
Where to put a beehive in the UK: neighbours, the law, siting, water, drifting and moving hives
Where to put a beehive in the UK: nuisance law and allotment rules, shelter and sun, entrance direction, water, hive layout against drifting and moving hives.
- Wild pollinators
Wild bees in the UK: how many species, how to recognise them, where they nest and how to help
Wild bees in the UK: over 270 species, 24 of them bumblebees. How to recognise them, where they nest, why a third are declining and what helps in your garden.