Bishops Bees

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Bishops Bees

We are UK honeybee queen breeders based in North Devon and offer UK bred honey bee queens and nucs

12/08/2026

A good sign of colony defence. 🐝

This photograph was taken in the grass just outside one of the nucs containing a young queen that will be overwintered.

There are several dead wasps among the bees, along with clear signs that there has been quite a bit of activity around the entrance. While I was checking the colony, another wasp attempted to enter the nuc and the guard bees responded immediately.

That is exactly the sort of behaviour I want to see. Wasps can repeatedly test a colony’s entrance, looking for opportunities to steal food or prey on bees. A colony that guards its entrance effectively and responds quickly is better able to resist that pressure.

This queen is still young, so one observation is not enough to judge the colony as a whole. I’ll continue watching its temperament, productivity, health and overwintering performance. However, effective defence against wasps is a useful trait to record.

Selective breeding is not only about encouraging desirable characteristics. It is also important to avoid accidentally weakening valuable natural behaviours that help colonies protect themselves.

08/08/2026

This is what success looks like. 🐝

A few weeks ago, this queen was instrumentally inseminated as part of my queen breeding programme. Today, she's producing a strong, corner-to-corner brood pattern like this.

Instrumental insemination isn't the end goal—it's simply one tool used to make carefully planned breeding decisions. The real measure of a queen is how she performs once she's back in a colony.

A brood pattern like this shows that the queen is laying consistently, the workers are caring for the brood well, and the colony is developing into a strong, productive unit.

This is why every queen is evaluated after mating or insemination. Good genetics are important, but they still have to be proven in the hive.

05/08/2026

Instrumental insemination is about selection, not replacing nature. 🐝

This queen is being instrumentally inseminated as part of one of my queen breeding programmes. She now heads one of my production colonies.

The purpose of instrumental insemination is to control which drones contribute to the next generation. By carefully selecting both the queen and the drones, it's possible to preserve desirable characteristics such as temperament, productivity, brood pattern and overwintering ability.

Without controlled mating, a queen mates naturally with many drones from the surrounding area. That's important for maintaining genetic diversity, but it also means the beekeeper has very little control over which traits are passed on.

Instrumental insemination is another breeding tool. It allows specific breeding lines to be developed, evaluated and improved over successive generations while still maintaining healthy, vigorous colonies.

Every queen still has to prove herself in the hive. Good breeding starts with careful selection, but it's the colony's performance that ultimately determines whether those genetics are worth carrying forward.

01/08/2026

A frame full of sealed brood. 🐝

This is the sort of frame that shows just how quickly a colony can build its population.

Most of the cells are capped, with developing worker bees completing the final stages of growth beneath the wax. Over the coming days, they will begin to emerge and add a substantial number of young bees to the colony.

Frames like this are especially valuable when assessing colony strength, preparing colonies for queen rearing, or deciding whether brood can be used to support a weaker colony.

The pattern is never expected to be completely solid. Some open cells may contain younger brood, stores, or may already have produced an emerging bee. What matters is looking at the frame as a whole and understanding what it tells us about the colony’s development.

A great deal of the future workforce is contained within this one frame.

29/07/2026

An unexpected discovery beneath a hive stand. 🐝

I went to move this empty hive stand so I could put a hive on it, only to find it was already occupied.

A small colony had established itself underneath the stand, building fresh white comb directly onto the timber.

Honey bees will readily use almost any sheltered space if they need somewhere to start building comb. While this certainly isn't where I'd expect to find a colony, it provided enough protection for the bees to get started.

It's a good reminder to check equipment carefully before moving it—you never know what might have made a home there.

Finding colonies in unusual places is just one of the many surprises that comes with spending time around bees.

13/07/2026

Spaces are available on our Practical Beekeeping – The Basics course.

This is a hands-on day for beginners and newer beekeepers who want to build confidence around bees and understand the foundations of good hive management.

We will look at inspections, equipment, colony behaviour, what to look for on the frames, and how to start making sense of what the bees are telling you.

📅 Thursday 16th July
📍 Bishops Bees, North Devon

Book here:
https://bishopsbees.co.uk/product/beekeeping-for-beginners-practical-course

11/07/2026

A slightly unexpected start to the beekeeping day. 🐦🐝

I opened up the Kramer to let it air out in the hot weather, then came back later to get started with the day’s jobs.

Only to find this little visitor inside.

The bird was flying around trying to get out through the closed window, so after a bit of gentle encouragement, I managed to guide it safely back outside.

Beekeeping days are never just about bees. When you’re working in apiaries, fields and sheds, you end up sharing the space with all sorts of wildlife.

Most days have some little surprise in them — this one just happened to be sitting in the Kramer waiting for me.

08/07/2026

Queen marking and record keeping. 👑🐝

I’ve been collecting mated queens from nucs, marking them with numbered discs, and preparing queens to be sold and sent out.

The number isn’t just for appearance. It gives each queen a clear identity, which makes record keeping much easier.

A numbered queen can be matched back to her records, including things like:

• which line she came from
• which nuc she was in
• when she was mated
• whether she is being kept, sold or moved
• how she performs later on

When you are working with a few queens, it is possible to keep track by memory for a short while. When you are working with multiple mating nucs and batches of queens, proper marking and records become essential.

It also makes future inspections much quicker. A marked queen is easier to find, and a numbered queen is easier to identify with confidence.

Small details, but they make a big difference in queen rearing.

04/07/2026

Beekeeping can feel overwhelming when you are starting out.

What should you be looking for during an inspection?
How do you know whether a colony is healthy?
When should you give them more space?
What equipment do you actually need?

Our Practical Beekeeping – The Basics course is built around helping new beekeepers understand what they are seeing and why it matters.

The day is practical, friendly and focused on real hive management rather than just theory.

You will learn how to approach a colony inspection, recognise key signs inside the hive, understand the basics of seasonal management, and build confidence working around bees.

📅 Thursday 16th July
📍 Bishops Bees, North Devon

Book here:
https://bishopsbees.co.uk/product/beekeeping-for-beginners-practical-course

01/07/2026

Reveal time. 👑🐝

There are actually three queens in this picture.

Two are marked, which makes them much easier to pick out once your eye catches the spot of paint. The third is unmarked, and she is much harder to separate from the workers unless you are looking carefully at body shape, movement and the way the bees behave around her.

This is one of the reasons queen finding is not just about looking for a “bigger bee”.

You are often looking for:
• a longer abdomen
• different movement
• a gap or change in the pattern of bees around her
• marked colour, if she has one
• subtle behaviour rather than just size

It’s also a useful reminder when working with mating nucs, splits and queen rearing colonies. Marking queens helps enormously with record keeping and handling, but there will always be moments where you need to rely on your eye.

A good little test of observation.

Address

Opening Hours

Monday	09:00 - 17:00
Tuesday	09:00 - 17:00
Wednesday	09:00 - 17:00
Thursday	09:00 - 17:00
Friday	09:00 - 17:00
Saturday	10:00 - 16:00

Telephone

+447908563545

Website

https://bishopsbees.co.uk/

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