The firthside apiary provides experience with different hives, of sharing equipment and ideas, and time to chat about bees.
Not even our standard Langstroth hives are standard. Many borrow the quilt concept from the warre hive with great benefits in keeping bees dry and comfortable..
Our hives stay in the apiary to localise the bees, allowing them to use their local knowledge of water, resin, nectar and mycelium sources to reduce stress, build resistance to disease and minimise losses due to transport.
Natural beekeeping is possible in standard hives and embraces the concepts of no introduced toxins like paint, plastic, glues and treatments as well as foundationless comb production.
And our bees love the warre hive.
Our hives are a mixture of styles and use natural methods in varying degrees.
Some of our teaching hives use standard boxes and frames with foundation and others are foundationless.
Above all our bees are treated with respect and care, and because of this they are calm and wonderful colonies to work. We are passionate about introducing people to bees in a manner that is safe for the bees (and people) attending classes.
Our forty bees south honey is carefully handcrafted to ensure a unique honey full of enzymes, pollens, wax and nutrient. This honey is unheated, unfiltered and not treated to ensure it retains the highest taste and medicinal qualities. We are careful about the amount of honey we harvest ensuring our bees have the best wintering supplies and we avoid artificial feeding. So much is the demand for this divine food, that our honey is only available through a wait-list.