Honeybee Haven

We have had the most fantastic time this afternoon.

We met up with Damien, the beekeeper (pictured with me) who was absolutely brilliant; really informative and so passionate about what he does.

The centre doesn't open officially for another 3 weeks and Samlesbury Hall itself was closed today for a wedding, so it felt even more special us being there.

Damien talked us through a few do's and dont's before we got suited up to venture outside.

He warned us that we may still get bees in our suits, but not to worry! He also warned us we may get stung (but we didn't, on either count).

As the hive was opened, Damien explained to us about the different levels, pointed out the different bees (workers, drones, males) and showed us how they build the honeycombs.
A few of the combs had larvae in them and he told us how the bees keep the babies clean and fed before they hatch.

To see all of this up close was just amazing; something we never thought we would be able to experience, so we are thrilled to have been able to do it.

He opened and inspected 3 hives; all black bees which are native to Cumbria (in the first, more established hive) and Lancashire in the other two hives.
Black bees are much more resistant to UK weather; the ones we get in our garden are Italian bees, which he said were imported as they were a prettier yellow and black colour.

We didn't manage to see a queen bee; the main one that Damien has had for 9 years sadly died this week, but he explained how the hive would have known she was dying and prepared 4 or 5 new queens ready to take over.
Only one can be Queen though, so there's a little power struggle initially between them until the hive decides who will be in charge.
That one is fed royal jelly to make her queen.

At the end of our session, Damien gave us a frame out of one of the hives to take home.
We extracted the honey when we got home; it tastes amazing. You can't get fresher than that can you?

To sum up our experience (in the words of Mr A), we are both totally buzzing!