Sting number 5 is the worst

June 25

 

Checking my bee inspection records
Showed I needed to check the big hive
3 supers, and a very busy entrance / exit

The sun was out but a little windy

So I donned my bee suit and went in

Wow busy hive

Checked carefully for the queen on every frame

Halfway through I was under attack

Better abandon this they are getting quite angry

Put the hive back together and went inside

Two hours later just walking past the enclosure

A bee spotted me she was obviosuly on sentry duty

Chased me all round the garden and ping smacked me one on the cheek

I have bought a zap ease which is supposed to suppress the urge to scratch

Maybe it helped

Overnight my eye gradually closed

No pain

Just ugly to look at

Oh dear am I the right person for bee keeping

Don't talk to me about bee swarming

    It's early morning, early June

   Just checking my 3 hives
   All good but what's that in the ceonothis - a great walloping bee swarm
   Not again - why are they doing this
   Where's that come from - which hive

   Called Derek - he says he can easily pop round
   No no I'm a grown up - I need to do this
   Can I borrow your Nuke please
   Of course Andrew but I can pop round
   No Derek I can do this

Check my hives

Plenty of activity at the entrance

Lift the lids on a couple and peer in

Lots of bees around - it's a mystery where the swarm came from

Anyway focus on the swarm

So reach up give the branch a strong shake

They all plop into the nuke

Put the lid on leave the tiny entrance open

Walk away

A few minutes later they are pouring out of the nuke entrance

Like lava

Then buzzing around the garden in 20 metre loops

Round and round - in their thousands

Then settle on the side of the nuke - not the inside

So the queen must have crawled out the entrance

Bugger

Just walk away - relax

The forecast for tomorrow is lots of rain

Plan B then

Think about plan C

So I placed an empty box over the nuke

Left a little gap for them to go in and out

A few hours later all is quite

Hopefully they are all inside the box

A quick peep

Yes happy days - good night

It did indeed rain the following day

Stair rods on occasions

And wind

But the box stayed put

Then sun came out - time to don my bee suit and veil

Gently lift the box

Then lift the nuke and brush the swarm into another box

Flip the box over and place on a large cloth

The residue of bees are making their way into the box - which means

Yes I have the queen where I need her - in the new box

Walk away have a coffee

One of my hives contains a very small colony - only a thousand furry boys & girls

So it's going to moved out

To make way for the new swarm

All appears calm at the upturned box - they have all assembled inside

What amazing creatures they are

Totally loyal followers of their queen

So their new home is ready

Lid off most of the frames out for the moment

Place the box into the empty hive

Give it a big tap on the back - and the swarm drops in

Then drop all the frames in and pop the lid on

Place the hive on it's stand in my enclosure

Pretty quiet - success 

Classroom of Bee Brains January 2025

This is the start of my bee journey

I am learning about bees in a class I signed up for

6 Saturday mornings to find out all about the little furry creatures

Do I really need to be spending my Saturdays here? 

Just concentrate I tell myself

Yes but my head is getting a little numb from powerpoints

Maybe it will be fine; I hope so

Watching the group between slides

Couples and singles

Working age and retirement age

Some a little bit bored

Some quite engaged

The folks at the front really know their bee stuff

Wow impressed, and bees are just awesome