We don't have Tropilaelaps in the UK — and we'd very much like to keep it that way. With the parasitic mite continuing its westward spread, here's what British beekeepers should know.

Not every group of bees is a swarm. After two recent reports turned out to be something quite different, Tristan takes a closer look at the ivy bee, how it differs from a honey bee and what to do if you find them.

Opened a jar of honey to find that the clear, runny honey you remember has turned cloudy, thick or grainy? Don’t throw it away. In most cases, absolutely nothing has gone wrong. Your honey has simply crystallised, something that honey naturally does over time. Why does honey crystallise? Honey is made up mainly of natural sugars, particularly glucose and fructose, together with water and smaller amounts of other naturally occurring substances. Glucose is less soluble in water

Thinking About Keeping Bees? Start With Someone Beside You.

Finding several thousand bees suddenly clustered on a tree, fence, shed or garden furniture can be quite a surprise. One day there is nothing there and the next there is a football-sized mass of bees hanging from a branch, with more flying around it.

A jar of honey looks like a remarkably simple thing. Bees collect nectar, the beekeeper harvests the honey and eventually somebody spreads it on toast. Yet behind every jar is a particular colony of bees, a particular landscape and a particular season, and those things can make one honey noticeably different from another. Buying honey directly from a local beekeeper gives you an opportunity to understand some of that story. You can ask where the bees are kept, when the honey