The Filberts Archives
Beekeeping, gardening and other musings.
Seasons Change
As the seasons change and the working cycle transfers from the apiaries to the orchards, the weather and daylight all changing the cadence of the working day. Orchard days starts earlier than bee work (Bees don’t like early mornings) and the misty vistas across the...
August – The Bee Season Draws to a Close.
As the season draws to a close I can say with certainty that I’m glad to have got through it! Queens have been repeatedly superseded throughout the year and I expect more supercedure cells are still being summoned up as I type. I hope that the bumblebee colonies have...
Best Laid Plans – May & June
Find out about how our bees are getting on this season & who’s getting the most out of our newly planted forage (hint-it’s not our bees)
April – Busy Planting!
With April’s full budding moon came the first blossoms on the Yarlington Mill cider trees and rather alarmingly also the new eating fruit trees that were delivered in the middle of the month!!
March – Changing Seasons
The orchard is coming back to life and showing signs of Spring with our bees venturing out to feed on early pollen on warmer days. Our bee breeding shed has had a Spring clean and is ready of the season ahead.
February – Everything’s waking up
Find out more about what we’re up to here at Filberts HQ this month and what to expect from your local bumblebee queens as they start to wake up.
May, what a month!
I’ve meant to see in the month of may from the top of the Cerne Giant for a long time now. This year I finally managed to and it was a gloriously random affair. From this chaotic, raucous beginning the month has sprawled out in the same fashion. All was a rush to...
Removing a Honey Bee Colony
Although we don’t do many honey bee colony removals, Mark was pleased to be persuaded into taking this one. It was a whooper, with several buckets of honey and boxes of brood. Having located the queen, this strong, good natured colony was safely moved to our bee breeding unit.
Helping Out Tired Bumblebees
You may notice a few very large bumble bees flying about at this time of year. These queens bumblebees are occasionally caught out by the unpredictable weather in early spring. Read on to to find out what to do with an exhausted queen bumblebee at home…
20% off to Customers registered with Country Living for their Artisan Pop Up Fair.
We are offering 20% off to all those registered with Country Living for their Artisan Pop Up event this weekend. Register now to receive an event guide and some exciting discount code from participating artisans.
Beekeeping Courses in West Dorset
Know someone who's interested in having bees but doesn't know where to start? Our half-day Beekeeping Introductory course makes a lovely gift. We're taking bookings now for courses in 2020. We had some great feed back this year with The Bee Intro Course proving...
Colours of pollen
Pollen colour is one of the variables that affects the colour of our balms, salves, butters and polishes. Discover more about where your local bees are foraging with our new simple pollen guide, included in our Bee Garden Kit-in-a-card.
Natural beeswax balms made in Dorset
Our balms, salves and butters are free from water and do not contain synthetic colourings or fragrances, artificial preservatives, parabens, phthalates or mineral oils. They are concentrated, nourishing oil-based blends.
Beeswax food wraps
When it's cold outside, we like to spend a bit of time indoors experimenting with new products. Suzy has trialled and adapted our new kits for making beeswax food wraps. We've put together some clear instructions and you can make 3 wraps from each kit. NEW Food Wrap...
Lemon and Ginger in tea and lip balm
Time to look after yourself with some Lemon and ginger winter Tea - best made in a teapot, but if you haven't one to hand, make it in a jug covered with a small plate to keep the tea warm while it brews. Warm the pot or jug first, then add the Juice of one lemon, some...
Athelhampton House Christmas Fair
Getting ready for the Dorset Food & Drink Christmas Fair. We have Dorset honey, beeswax candles, gifts for gardeners, "thank you" gifts for teachers, craft kits. Beeswax balms and salves to protect against the winter weather ... come and join us.
Lip balms for winter
skincare for winter protection
Surviving Apple Harvest
We’re about to start in the orchard on the last job of the year. The bees are all fed and sorted for winter, so we turn our efforts to harvesting the cider apples. Before we can get going, the barns have to be cleared and cleaned, the harvesting equipment repaired...
Art at Filberts Barn
Our resident artist Suzy Moger is once again bringing her paintings to Filberts Barn in Uploders. Dorset Arts Weeks span the last week of May and into the beginning of June and offer a great way to see Dorset and meet some interesting creative folk along the way. This year’s event is from 26th May to 10th June.
Dorset Beekeeping Courses For beginners
Ever thought you’d like to know more about beekeeping? This year we’ll be launching a great new series of courses with Mark at Twinways Orchard.