Bees at Lower Blakemere Farm

Welcome to Lower Blakemere, where our farm isn’t just about crops—it’s now home to a buzzing bee population that plays a positive role in our farming operations. These bees are crucial for pollinating plants, especially our oil seed rape, and they produce valuable products like honey and beeswax.

Bee Communication: The Waggle Dance
Bees are fascinating creatures, particularly when it comes to how they communicate. They perform a “waggle dance” to tell their fellow bees where to find food. This dance shows the direction and distance to flowers with precision, helping other bees find the best spots for foraging. I did try and take a close up video of this waggle but at that point the bees got fed up of me and decided to invade my hair…

The Role of the Queen Bee
Each hive is based around a queen bee, whose main job is to keep the hive growing by laying thousands of eggs. The health of the hive depends heavily on her well-being, making her role critical for a productive bee population.

Importance of Pollination
Our bees have a big job when it comes to pollinating crops like oil seed rape. This interaction doesn’t just help the plants grow better—it also ensures that the crops are high quality, thanks to the effective cross-pollination by our bees.

Honey and Beeswax Production
Managed by John, affectionately known as “John Bee Man,” our bees produce significant amounts of honey and beeswax. A strong hive can yield up to 60 pounds of honey in a good season. John ensures a responsible harvest so that the bees have enough reserves for winter.
John’s honey is especially popular locally for its superb quality and unique flavour, which reflects the diverse plants our bees visit.

Healthy bees lead to more productive crops, and that’s a win for everyone.