Taking Stock

There are probably around 30,000 beekeepers in UK. 29,500 of those do it as a hobby. The rest describe themselves as commercial 'bee farmers' but I doubt if there are many of those for whom it is a sole source of income. A long tail of hobbyists have only one or two hives; the average is around 4 or 5. My ambition this year is to become Mr Average

I thought about this because I've spent quite a bit of the day administering the group purchase of wooden frames to put in the hives, and wax foundation to put in the frames, on behalf of two dozen fellow association members, all raring to get going on the new season. Five different kinds of frames and eight different kinds of wax - lots of cross-checking! 

I think of it as an inexpensive hobby (compared to some!), but numbers multiply up. I've sent out orders for £2,000. If all those beekeepers are spending at a similar rate to us, that's £3 million nationally. Over this year I'll do 3 more orders: honey jars, autumn feed, Varroa treatment, winter feed. Keep counting

It will be interesting to see what impact the tariff tantrums have. These things can have much wider implications than anyone expects. How will lumber prices go? What about glass? Or sugar? World markets are part science, part psychology and part random events. I'm not making any bets - but I am hedging them by keeping healthy stocks of most things

A brief burst of light in late afternoon to make the moss on the old Bramley glow, and rescue my eyes from spreadsheets. There is lots of lovely lichen too, but I only had time for one shot. The Aconites and snowdrops can have a picture of their own when they reach their peak. The muntjac-grazed bluebells and grape-hyacinth under the tree are in recovery. If you are looking for signs of spring, it all adds up