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A Beekeeping Podcast for the Inquisitive Beekeeper with a Short Attention Span! BeeFarmer, YouTuber (The Norfolk Honey Company, Patreon Host (www.patreon.com/norfolkhoney), Beekeeping mentor to 1000's of beekeepers worldwide via my social media channels, Facebook and Instagram.
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Hi, I’m Stewart Spinks and welcome to Episode 74 of my podcast, Beekeeping Short and Sweet. Catch up with the latest episodes HERE This week I’m following up on a question posted by one of our Patrons regarding swarm management and general inspections through the active season. If inspecting your bee hive gives you a feeling of impending doom each time, stay tuned and I’ll hopefully give you some pointers to make the whole task more relaxed. Before we get into the detail of Ben’s question I t...
Hi, I’m Stewart Spinks and welcome to Episode 73 of my podcast, Beekeeping Short and Sweet. It’s our monthly Questions and Answers session today so stay tuned for some cracking questions and hopefully my helpful replies. Before we get into the questions my weekly round-up has the distinct taste of disaster about it and not really about beekeeping! As you may have seen by the pictures I’ve posted, the Ranger pick up has had yet another major malfunction, this time it’s the clutch. I was drivin...
Hi, I’m Stewart Spinks and welcome to Episode 72 of my podcast, Beekeeping Short and Sweet. It’s July and the final month of our Summer nectar flow, the bees are busy filling Supers and we’ve been hit by another bout of CBPV. There are jobs that need attention for this month too, so keep listening for this week's updates. Welcome back to another weekly podcast and we somehow find ourselves in July and what is for me the final month of our Summer honey production. I’ve moved all of the bees ba...
Hi, I’m Stewart Spinks and welcome to Episode 71 of my podcast, Beekeeping Short and Sweet. The queen rearing is in full swing and I need to create more finisher colonies, stay tuned for more queen rearing chat and simple details of how to unite two colonies. More rain, thunder and lightning this past week, the night skies were lit up brightly overnight midweek and we had some very short sharp torrential rainfall. Being Summer, it tired up very quickly and by the following morning the roads w...
Hi, I’m Stewart Spinks and welcome to Episode 70 of my podcast, Beekeeping Short and Sweet. June Gap, what June Gap? The Blackberries are in flower locally here and that hopefully signals the beginning of the Summer flow, All we need now is some warm weather and the supers will begin to fill again. This week, I’m looking forward to a weekend of queen rearing so keep listening to hear how I’m preparing for that. Catch up with the very latest podcasts on my Patreon page here. The Fondant Menti...
Hi, I’m Stewart Spinks and welcome to Episode 69 of my podcast, Beekeeping Short and Sweet. What a wet week we’re having, and guess which idiot decided it would be a good idea to move nucs to the mating apiary in preparation for the queen rearing. Stay tuned for my queen rearing update, getting stuck in the mud and other beekeeping disasters! Check out all my latest Podcasts HERE Apipasta Bee Fondant can be found Here BS Honey 2 in 1 Nuc boxes can be found Here Utterly drenched, that was me...
Hi, I’m Stewart Spinks and welcome to Episode 68 of my podcast, Beekeeping Short and Sweet. The weeks are flying by quickly now as we rush headlong into June and It’s time for our monthly Questions and Answers roundup. If you'd like to support us and help us create more content please check out our Patreon page www.patreon.com/norfolkhoney Sign up to my beekeeping newsletter at www.norfolk-honey.co.uk The syrup I mention in the podcast can be found at Happy Valley Honey's Website HERE The bee...
Hi, I’m Stewart Spinks and welcome to Episode 67 of my podcast, Beekeeping Short and Sweet. After our first extraction session of the season, it’s time to consider what the month ahead will bring and also a brief update on how we’re doing so far. Check out my Patreon page here www.patreon.com/norfolkhoney So we’re just out of the honey room and I’ve enjoyed a decent early season crop of Oilseed Rape honey, even with the numerous splits and swarms we still managed to extract plenty of honey. ...
Hi, I’m Stewart Spinks and welcome to Episode 66 of my podcast, Beekeeping Short and Sweet. It’s been a busy week as we clear some of the supers ready for extraction and begin the process of moving hives to field beans. Join me each week for my latest podcast www.patreon.com/norfolkhoney This has to be one of the more exciting weeks of the year, as if beekeeping isn’t exciting enough, of course. We’ve been through the long, cold Winter……. well, it wasn’t that long or cold really and that seem...
Hi, I’m Stewart Spinks and welcome to Episode 65 of my podcast, Beekeeping Short and Sweet. I’m gearing up to start my queen rearing program at the end of this month and so I thought I’d go over my selection criteria and maybe this year we’ll get some fantastic new queens. The books I refer to are available here: Queen Bee: Biology, Rearing and Breeding by David Woodward The Principles of Bee Improvement by Jo Widdicombe ( These are affiliate links which cost you no more than you would norma...
This week is my Questions and Answers week, for those of you listening for the first time, it’s where supporters from my Patreon page can post questions to me that they have maybe encountered and I’ll do my best to give an answer. If you’re listening via Patreon, my thanks for your continued support and for those of you listening to the later release of the podcast, don’t miss out on the latest podcast by simply signing up on my dedicate web page. Get the very latest podcast by visiting my we...
Hi, I’m Stewart Spinks and welcome to Episode 63 of my podcast, Beekeeping Short and Sweet. The bees have exploded into Spring and I’ve been out collecting swarms from various locations. Today I thought I’d share my memories of a very Special day back in the late 1980s when I collected my very first swarm. Check out my Patreon page for early access to all of my content including my weekly podcast: Stewarts Patreon Page Here's the picture of my very first swarm running up the board into the ...
Hi, I’m Stewart Spinks and welcome to Episode 62 of my podcast, Beekeeping Short and Sweet. Oilseed Rape and Bees by Allan Calder BBKA Guidance Sheet on Buying a Nucleus Colony With May just around the corner, it’s a timely moment to talk about jobs for the coming month and also a little update on what my bees have been up to. The end of April and into the beginning of May sees a lot of colonies building up strongly which inevitably raises concerns about swarming again. We’ve had some...
It’s Easter weekend, so a very Happy Easter to you all. Here in Norfolk, we’re expecting temperatures to rise to nearly 20 degrees centigrade, that’s around 68 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s definitely T-Shirt weather and time to get some decent Spring inspections carried out. Check out my Patreon Page to support this podcast www.patreon.com/norfolkhoney Sign up to my fortnightly newsletter here www.norfolk-honey.co.uk We’ve been waiting patiently since late Winter for our warmer weather to...
Another week another challenge here in Norfolk. I’ve managed to tweak my recurring back problem again and that’s causing some fun issues for me, particularly putting my socks on, however, it happened after we moved around 50 of our colonies to the Oil Seed Rape pollination and I think it was probably just tiredness and no doubt laziness that caused it so I’m resting up for a few days and hopefully it will be fine. I really must look into some lifting gear to help move hives around more easily...
Hi, I’m Stewart Spinks and welcome to Episode 59 of my podcast, Beekeeping Short and Sweet. We’re finally into some early Spring inspections and I’m gearing up to move some bees to their first nectar flow of the season. Welcome back and this week has seen that lovely warm early Spring disappear down a rabbit hole and we’re once again back down to more normal temperatures for the time of year. A lot of days over the past week have been down into the single figures, temperature wise and the las...
Welcome once again to my weekly podcast, That week seemed to fly by. I’ve been busy again at the workshop and when this podcast comes out to you on Friday I’ll be gearing up to head out to carry out first inspections on the remaining colonies I’ve not yet checked up on. Please do check out my support page where you can listen to the very latest podcasts and watch all of my exclusive beekeeping videos. Click on the link below. The Norfolk Honey Co. I’m hoping the queen failures I encountered l...
Hi I’m Stewart Spinks and welcome to episode 57 of my podcast, Beekeeping Short and Sweet. I’ve been inspecting this week carrying out first Spring checks on some my colonies and it got me thinking about how I use a smoker, so here are my thoughts. Websites mentioned in today's podcast: My Website: http://www.norfolk-honey.co.uk My additional videos and up to date podcasts Page: Norfolk Honey Co at Patreon The smokers I currently use available from Bee-Equipment online Welcome once again t...
Hi I’m Stewart Spinks and welcome to episode 56 of my podcast, Beekeeping Short and Sweet. The start of the new beekeeping season is almost upon us and last weekend I travelled out of the County to the first major Trade show of the season, BeeTradex. Links for this week's podcast mentions; http://www.patreon.com/norfolkhoney http://www.modernbeekeeping.co.uk http://www.bees-online.co.uk https://www.thorne.co.uk https://www.carl-fritz.de https://en.swienty.com http://beefarmers.co.uk http://w...
This week sees the return of my regular monthly Questions and Answers podcast and we have some cracking questions as always. Web addresses and links mentioned in todays podcast: My Support page; www.patreon.com/norfolkhoney My Website; www.norfolk-honey.co.uk David at Buzzed Bees; www.gofundme.com/Rescued-Bees-Drowned-In-Mudslide Near Native Bees - Bibba www.bibba.com Apipasta Syrup and Fondant - www.happyvalleyhoney.co.uk Support the show
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