Loughton Bees and Soaps

01/06/2026

Two of my garden hives today. The bees were really buzzing

22/05/2026

When in Paris what do you go to see : the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower? No the beehives in the Palais du Luxembourg gardens!

08/05/2026

The first honey crop of 2026 is here. A couple of us look after the bees at Loughton Methodist Church and this morning we took off the first frames of sealed Spring honey.
You'll be able to buy a jar at Wesley's Cafe ( in the entrance foyer of the church) from Monday. If you live within 2 miles of the church maybe the bees have visited your garden.
£8 per 340g jar.

08/05/2026

The new bumblebees are emerging this week. In the breakfast time sunshine as I sit on a bench in our garden the new girls are emerging right beside me.

21/04/2026

14/04/2026

Yippee. There's a nectar flow on and the bees are gathering. Nectar for the honey and pollen to feed the growing young bees being laid, and hatching by the hundreds daily. Look for the yellow pollen sacks by the rear legs of several bees as they return.
Hopefully some honey to harvest by July.

24/03/2026

Here it is, my annual reminder: don't spray spring dandelions with roundup. One flower can be visited by 100+ bees in a day, and your chemicals will kill all of them. 🌻

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19/03/2026

Hello. I’m Ground Ivy. Sorry I’m "creeping" into your perfect lawn.
Homeowners spend millions trying to kill me, but I am one of the most important plants in March. My flowers are shaped perfectly for the native bees that wake up before the dandelions.
I provide nectar for the rarest native bees during the "March Hunger Gap."
I am a member of the mint family, and I’m a "Living Mulch." I protect the soil from drying out and stay green even in the worst drought.
What to do: Let me stay in the shady corners where grass won't grow anyway! I’m a $0-cost ground cover that feeds the team.
I’m sorry I’m "persistent." But the native bees are alive because of me.

19/03/2026

This week the garden apiary has been really active in the sunshine. Today the girls were busy collecting water for the hive from the damp edge of one of our garden ponds.

01/03/2026

Don't tidy up the garden just yet. Give it another 3 weeks

What looks dry and “dead” to us is often a winter shelter for life. Inside this hollow stem, a native bee is hibernating, a chrysalis is waiting for spring, a beneficial wasp rests in its cocoon, and hundreds of ladybugs cluster together for warmth. When we grab the shears to clean up the garden, we may unknowingly cut a life in half. Pause. Let spring arrive. Give these small, vital creatures the chance to survive. The shears can wait — their lives cannot. 🌿