Myst~Tree Honey

More hives doesn’t always mean more honey 🐝

I recently had a little disagreement with another beekeeper about whether lots of smaller colonies or one enormous colony is better for producing honey.

Now, I know what you’re thinking:

“What… beekeepers arguing over technically unimportant information?”

Yes, dear reader. We do that far more often than anyone would like to admit.

This is one of my production hives. It started the year as an overwintered nuc and has now grown into this absolute tower, which is currently doing a fairly convincing job of dwarfing me.

Yes, you may be thinking:

“Big whoop, Greg. I’ve seen you around the village. You’re vertically challenged.”

Whilst that may be true, I’m actually standing on a step here so I can reach the top supers with my little noodle arms.

The point is, more colonies don’t automatically mean more honey.

A few strong, healthy and well-managed colonies can sometimes outperform a much larger number of weaker or neglected ones. Bigger numbers might sound impressive and professional, but the strength and condition of each colony matter far more than how many buzzing boxes you can count.

Quality over quantity.

Although in this case, apparently also height over dignity.

#Beekeeping #HoneyBees #LocalHoney #BeekeepingUK #MystTreeHoney

5 days ago | [YT] | 5

Myst~Tree Honey

Hello everyone, bit of an honest one.

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the inspection videos I’ve been making.

I genuinely enjoy filming them, but the long-form videos take a huge amount of time to edit. By the time I’ve finished work, spent time with the family, looked after the bees and actually run the business, most of what little free time remains is disappearing into video editing.

I’m not making them purely for views, but most are only reaching around 100 people unless something particularly unusual happens. It has made me wonder whether full weekly inspections are simply a little too niche for most viewers.

At the moment, the work/life balance has definitely wandered off towards the work side and set up a base camp there.

So I’m considering changing things slightly.

How would you feel about one monthly video covering everything that happened across the apiaries that month?

I’d still make a longer version and a shorter, more focused version, but it would mean I could:

🐝 Show the colonies progressing over several weeks
🐝 Focus on the genuinely useful or interesting moments
🐝 Cut out the repetitive parts of full inspections
🐝 Spend a little less of my life staring at an editing timeline

Rather than watching an entire day of inspections, you’d get a clearer story showing what changed, what worked, what went wrong and what happened next.

You’re the people watching these videos, so I’d genuinely appreciate your thoughts. Would you prefer a monthly roundup, or do you enjoy the weekly inspection format as it is?

Thank you,
Greg

1 week ago | [YT] | 3

Myst~Tree Honey

What’s flying in and out of your wall, shed, roof or suspicious little hole? 🐝

Right, I’m going to try and help you identify some of the buzzing critters people keep finding around houses, sheds, garages and wall cavities.

Quick disclaimer first: I drew these on Post-it notes, then used AI to colour them in because I have no colouring pencils and my ability to colour accurate insect markings sits somewhere between “enthusiastic toddler” and “he's trying his best...”

So use these as a guide, not a scientific textbook.

Honeybees
Golden-brown with darker bands, moderately furry, and around 12-15 mm long. One useful clue is that honeybee workers carry pollen in little baskets on their back legs, so you may see yellow, orange or cream blobs stuck to their hind legs as they fly in. From the outside, you’ll usually see a steady stream of bees going in and out of one entrance, almost like a tiny airport. They live in large colonies and build wax comb, so if they’re inside a wall, chimney, roof or house cavity, they need dealing with properly before they build up too much comb and stored honey.

Bumblebees
Big, round, fluffy little tanks. Often yellow and black with a buff, white or red tail depending on the species. They are usually much larger and fuzzier than honeybees, with a loud buzzing flight. Bumblebees also carry pollen on their back legs, but they look chunkier and much fluffier overall. Their colonies are much smaller, often nesting underground in old rodent burrows, compost heaps, sheds or bird boxes. You’ll usually see much less traffic at the entrance than with honeybees. If they’re not causing a problem, they’re normally best left alone because the nest will usually die out naturally later in the year.

Solitary bees
These don’t live in big colonies. Each female does her own thing, which I respect deeply. Red mason bees, for example, are ginger-orange with a darker face and legs, and they often use little holes in brickwork, wood, hollow stems or bee hotels. A really handy clue is that some solitary bees, like mason bees, carry pollen underneath their abdomen rather than in obvious pollen baskets on their legs. So if you see a little bee with a dusty yellow/orange belly going into small holes, it may well be a solitary bee. They are extremely gentle and brilliant pollinators, especially for fruit trees.

Wasps
Bright yellow and black, smooth and shiny, with a very obvious narrow waist. They don’t have pollen baskets and they don’t look fluffy like bumblebees. They can nest underground, in sheds, lofts or wall cavities, and later in the year they become much more noticeable around food, bins and drinks. They do get a bad reputation, but they’re also useful predators that remove loads of pest insects.

European hornets
Large, native and impressive. They are much bigger than common wasps, with a chestnut-red head and thorax, yellow abdomen with black markings, and amber-coloured wings. They can look intimidating, but they’re usually calmer than people expect and are part of our native wildlife. Seeing one does not mean you need to report it.

Asian hornets / yellow-legged hornets
These are the ones we do need to take seriously. They are mostly dark, with a bright orange face, yellow-tipped legs, often described as “yellow socks”, and a single broad orange band towards the rear of the abdomen. They are invasive and put pressure on pollinators, especially honeybees. They’re also known for hovering outside hives and catching bees as they return.

If you think you’ve seen an Asian hornet, please report it. Don’t try to catch it, don’t disturb a nest, and don’t play “brave person with a jam jar”. Take a photo or video from a safe distance if you can, and report it using the Asian Hornet Watch app or the official online reporting form.

Main thing: don’t panic, don’t spray everything that buzzes, and don’t block entrances without knowing what you’re dealing with.

If you’re unsure, take a clear video from a safe distance and send it to someone who can help identify it.

I apologise again for the use of AI but I hope this helped

#BeeIdentification #BeekeepingUK #HoneyBees #Bumblebees #AsianHornet #WildlifeUK #BeeHelp

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3 weeks ago | [YT] | 4

Myst~Tree Honey

I had a bit of a realisation this morning.

This little business has grown far bigger than I ever expected it to.

I noticed there are now over 2,000 of you following on Facebook alone, which is honestly a bit mad. And the fact that there are even more people watching, listening to, and occasionally being mildly perplexed by my bee-related ramblings on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube genuinely blows my mind.

So I thought I should probably introduce myself properly again...

Hello, I’m Greg, the owner of Myst~Tree Honey 🐝

I’m a beekeeper based in Rainford, and I run this business alongside full-time work, family life with my beautiful wife Kat and our two incredible little ones, and the daily challenge of trying to fit a 60-hour day into 24 hours. It’s going about as well as you’d expect.

Myst~Tree actually started because I wanted to make cider. Somehow, through a series of sensible decisions, questionable decisions, and “oh look, bees” decisions, the cider fell quietly by the wayside and I ended up becoming a semi-commercial beekeeper instead.

These days, Myst~Tree is about local honey, proper beekeeping, rewilding, wildflower seed projects, and trying to get more people interested in wildlife, nature, bees, and the world buzzing away around us.

That’s a big part of why I make the videos. Yes, they’re about beekeeping, but really they’re about helping people learn too. Showing what’s happening inside a hive, how bees behave, why nature matters, and why rewilding even small spaces can make a difference.

Basically, I’m just a numpty in a bee suit trying to get as much information about nature out as possible before people’s eyes slowly glaze over....

So if you’re new here, thank you for following.
If you’ve been here for a while, thank you for sticking around.

And if you’re just here to watch me talk to bees like they’re tiny staff members with poor communication skills and even poorer ideas of what personal space means… then fair enough.

#MystTreeHoney #BeekeepingUK #LocalHoney #Rainford #Rewilding

2 months ago | [YT] | 6

Myst~Tree Honey

🎄 Happy Crimbo, you lovely lot 🎄

I know I’m supposed to be taking a proper break from the business and social media…

but I’d feel daft not popping in to say Happy Christmas to you all.

Thank you for the support, the chats, the laughs, the questions, and for generally being a cracking community to be part of.

I hope today’s full of good food, cosy moments, and as little stress as humanly possible.

See you on the other side — slightly rounder, well-rested (hopefully), and ready for the new year. 😄🐝
#HappyCrimbo #MystTreeHoney #Community #ChristmasCheers

5 months ago | [YT] | 2

Myst~Tree Honey

Just about to head out to the honey room to start cleaning after a long day… and this is what I’m presented with:

The world’s comfiest couch, soft warm blankets, fairy lights glowing on their timer (thanks to my wife), a big TV full of shows I’ve been meaning to watch but never had the time, and a knocked-over pot of Dreamies on the table from some very hopeful cats (lid still on, thankfully). To top it all off, there’s a new bottle of rum calling me from the cupboard.

I know I’m a lucky man to have such a cosy spot to relax, and it looks so inviting... but the honey room still needs scrubbing and jars need filling.

Just a few more days of hard work, and then I’ll finally give myself a proper break. 🍯🐝

9 months ago | [YT] | 2

Myst~Tree Honey

Hello Everyone,

Just wrapped up this week’s hive inspections (and at the rate I’m editing, the YouTube video might be out by next month… sigh 🤦‍♂️).

BUT—big news—I found my first marked queens of 2025!

Whenever I find a queen during inspections, the first thing I check is that she’s laying well. Once I’m happy she’s off to a good start, I gently catch and mark her with this year’s colour—a little dot on her thorax to help track her age and origin.

Queen marking follows an international colour code:
Blue (2020)
White (2021)
Yellow (2022)
Red (2023)
Green (2024)
And now we’re back to Blue for 2025!

One of the queens I marked today (pictured right) really stopped me in my tracks. She looks exactly like ‘Laura’, the very first queen Kat and I started beekeeping with. Same dark colour. Same calm walk. Same blue dot.

It hit me with this weird mix of nostalgia and déjà vu—took me straight back to 2020, in the thick of lockdown, when the bees were the one thing holding my head above water.

Anyway, just felt like sharing this little moment with you. Funny how a tiny bee can carry so much weight.

Hope you're all safe and well,
Greg

#BeekeepingUK #QueenBee #MarkedQueen #BeekeeperLife #BeeKeepingJourney #SpringBees #BeeStory #NostalgiaBuzz #SaveTheBees #ApiaryLife #MentalHealthAndNature #MystTree #UKBeekeeper #QueenMarking #BlueDot2025

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1 year ago (edited) | [YT] | 4

Myst~Tree Honey

Turns out today is this channels birthday. It's been exactly 365 days since I uploaded my first video. Thank you to the (very nearly) 500 of you following me. I hope I'm keeping you entertained.

My content is driven by yourselves. If there is anything you'd like to see, then please get in touch, and I'll do my best🙂

Hope you're all safe and well
Greg

1 year ago | [YT] | 9

Myst~Tree Honey

“Hey Greg, it’s spring and the bees are out! Where’s our videos?!”

I know, I know—I’ve been a bit quiet lately, and I’m sorry for leaving you hanging! Truth is, I’ve been pouring a lot of energy into something really important to me: the Rewilding Rainford Initiative.

It’s all about bringing more biodiversity back to the village—planting wildflowers, creating wildlife corridors, getting the community involved, and basically doing my best to make Rainford a little wilder (in the nature sense, not in the late-night pub sense).

If you fancy seeing what I’ve been up to and why I’ve been covered in mud more often than not, check it out here:

www.mysttree.com/post/rewilding-rainford-ii-the-re…

That said, beekeeping season is finally ramping up, and I’ve now got new videos scheduled every Sunday—so your regular dose of bees, chaos, and possibly me being chased by wasps is on its way!

Thanks for sticking around, and I hope you’re all safe, sound, and planting something lovely.
– Greg

#Beekeeping
#RewildingRainford
#SaveTheBees
#NatureRecovery
#PollinatorGarden
#WildflowerMeadow
#Biodiversity
#EcoFriendlyGardening
#SustainableLiving
#GardeningForWildlife
#HoneyBees
#CommunityProject
#BackyardBeekeeping
#SpringInTheGarden
#NewVideoAlert

1 year ago | [YT] | 4

Myst~Tree Honey

If you've been enjoying my fact checking videos and have the tiktok app then I'd really appreciate a follow. Posting at least one video a day because there's so much misinformation on the app that really needs sorting through.

Hope you're safe and well!
Greg

www.tiktok.com/@mysttree.honey?_t=8rjvQqYS1M9&_r=1

1 year ago | [YT] | 0