At this year’s Lincolnshire Show, you can meet a few of the county’s 450 beekeepers, and so you should… to find out why enthusiasts all over the county are buzzing with excitement at the belated beginning of the productive honey season.

Three years ago, a dreadful collapse in bee populations saw many hives lost, additionally in Lincolnshire, flooding wiped out many more. Colony levels have slowly recovered but are still in need of increased interest and new keepers; hence bee ambassadors like Simon Croson, head of Lincolnshire’s Beekeepers’ Association, Lecture Convenor at the National Honey Show, and producer of honey for a number of Lincolnshire National Trust property gift shops.

Simon’s day job, however, sees him working as an Officer Engineer at RAF Cranwell, where he keeps a   proportion of his total apiary; “The first bees were a 40th birthday present to indulge a long-standing fascination five years ago.” he says.

This year’s long cold winter has delayed the beginning of the season, which usually runs from early April or May to late September. Whilst the winter months see the population of female workers dwindle to about 10,000 and the male drone population diminish completely - leaving keepers like Simon to repair their hives and clean their equipment - summertime is a different matter.

In time for the summer months, the queen will lay 2,000–3,000 eggs each day from May. The drones provide vitality to the colony, but are of little use otherwise; it’s the female population of the hive that completes all of the hard work.

Predominantly, the 50,000 female worker bees forage, collecting pollen for protein and nectar for nutrients, which is sucked up using their tongue and stored in a honey stomach.

These two substances are combined to make ‘bee bread,’ which feeds the 2,000-3,000 young in the hive’s brood box. The bee bread is highly nutritious, which is great for sustaining the young, but only nectar is used when it comes to creating honey.

The frames, of which there are usually 50 to a hive on up to five ‘storeys’ in the super-frame, are also filled with honey, but, separated from the brood box by a queen excluder, these contain no eggs.

In addition to the foragers, some of the hive’s female workers are employed solely to fan air throughout the hive to maintain heat.

Following the evaporation of the water and the sealing up with wax that they produce from their abdomens - manipulated by their mandibles - when water content reaches around 20%, the frames containing this excess honey can have their wax plucked with a uncapping fork and be spun in a spinner to release around 3lb of honey per frame - 30lbs of honey each time; and up to 150lbs of honey per hive per season.

The honey is then double filtered using mesh screens and left to settle before being put into jars - some of Simon’s honey is sold in Lincolnshire’s National Trust Properties; the wax that is a byproduct of each harvest is then exchanged with a beekeeping equipment supplier like the very popular Thorns of Wragby, to be used in candles and beeswax furniture polish.

Towards the end of the season, the female workers prevent the male drones from returning to the hive. These drones die out to leave just one queen and 10-15,000 female workers to over winter, and are replaced with the new generation in spring.

Each of the workers live for just six weeks in the active season, spending their first three weeks in the hive before venturing out to forage. Of a number of honey bee species, many keepers’ preferred breed is the apis mellifera but the ‘pedigree’ bee of repute remains the Buckfast Strain.

Hive populations fell hugely in 2007, and, following the long cold winter of 2010, apiarists are hoping overall yields will not be affected by the later coming of Spring.

“Beekeepers on the whole have had a hard time lately, but this has created a lot of interest.” says Simon. “Our local group has had around 20 new members and a younger influx of those interested in beekeeping.”

“Lincolnshire Beekeepers are also running two ‘taster days’ on 3rd July at Risehome, where we have a joint apiary, and on 31st July, at Thornes of Wragby, the Premier place for beekeeping supplies and sponsor of the Leslie Thorne Lincolnshire Young Beekeeper Award, which was this year awarded to Georgia Sellars.”

In addition, the Lincolnshire Beekeepers Association will be erecting a temporary ‘viewing’ apiary at the Lincolnshire Show. There will also be demonstrations of honey-spinning and candlemaking for children.

“It’s a fascinating but really involved subject.” says Simon. “Honey harvests also vary from year to year.” By way of an example, Borage - a popular forage crop for honey bees - is now increasingly being imported rather than grown in the county, this reduction in Borage has affected enormously the County honey yield.

A staple part of Lincolnshire bees’ spring diet is oil seed rape, which yields well - 200lbs last year - but presents problems as its high natural sugar content makes it granulate quickly, rendering it difficult to remove from the frame - oil seed rape generally provides set honey, whilst nectar from Lime and Horse chestnut creates runnier honey; the taste and consistency varies from area to area and from year to year in accordance with the bees’ dietary habits.

Awareness of the importance in maintaining bee populations is essential; after all, they help to pollinate our gardens and provide a surplus of honey to enjoy all summer long.

With around one hour of work per hive per week and £500 sufficient capital to begin an interest in beekeeping, it’s accessible, but an affiliation with a local beekeeping group is essential.

Simon for one is delighted that the interest is finally gaining the reputation it deserves as the ultimate interest for those who love conservation, but advises a good deal of research before pursuing the craft. “Having said that, it’s rewarding and enjoyable.” he says. “It’s also really good to see new and ever-younger people developing an interest, and the support and friendship you’ll receive from local groups like the LBKA makes it all worthwhile!”