Well I'm happy to report that I still have bees, they seem quite content where they are, are doing everything they should and so far appear happy about me being there every now and then, pottering about and watering fairly near the hive entrance. I was concerned that they weren't getting enough of the syrup I have been giving them, I've heard and read that some newly hived swarms get through litres of the stuff, mine are doing a 100ml a day if that but there is always a little clump of bees there when I check. Slightly less concerned after a conversation with Bee Mentor Maureen yesterday and the fact that they are a small colony I decided to see where they were flying to. There are clumps of blackberry all over the plot, these are all in flower at the moment with one clump about 200 yards from the hive, yep you guessed it, it's awash with bees! Not just honey bees, this morning I counted 3 different types of bumble too. Obviously a bee favourite and with the boosted pollination it looks like we'll get another bumper crop this year. More blackberry wine methinks. Yummmmm.
On another note, I read the article in the Huddersfield Examiner last night "Did bee sting kill Dewsbury woman Eileen Pearson?" and although I'm by no means an expert I think it's a shocking. scare mongering piece of speculative nonsense. Perhaps it would have prudent for the Examiner to wait until the test results were in before publishing this "may have", "could have" speculative article which will have done nothing the reputation of the endangered bee species and has helped perpetuate the Hollywood myth that bees are killers. A number of my elderly neighbours have already referred to the article, scared that this is going to happen to them. Although I have tried to point out that the article is speculative and that the poor woman could have as easily had a nasty reaction to something she ate, they are not convinced. Bees are now enemy number 1! Maybe an article that gives readers the chance to identify the different makes and models of flying things accompanied by the proper way to deal with stings and bites would have served both the readership and the natural world better. My thoughts go out to the poor woman's family and friends but this article did not, in my opinion help anyone.
Right off my hobby horse and back to facts. The bee sting I ungratefully received yesterday (see previous post) luckily did not cause me to be ill in any way and as this post proves, I am very much in the land of the living. Yes it hurt, yes it swelled a little but because I followed the guidelines and immediately scraped the thing out with my fingernail the sting was only very mild and has even had a slight botox effect on my right eye, so I am certainly not complaining! I may have a bad reaction one day, both my beekeeping mentors have very serious reactions on occasions but I have done the sensible thing and read the guidelines and researched what to look out for so feel confident I am safe. Bring it on!
As an afterthought, the sting was probably a Karmic one as I laughed out loud when a friend of mine recently got stung in the head by a cross bumble bee. Just goes to show ;-)
The weather was a bit non beekeeping friendly this morning, windy, damp and cool so I wasn't sure the inspection scheduled on a couple of the Rooney's sites would take place. It turned out absolutely gorgeous around lunch time so the session was on. Leaving Jim at home it was just Maureen and myself so all girls together (apart from the odd drone) You'd think there would be an element of solidarity wouldn't you. Nothing of the sort! We carried out the inspections, swapped some frames and boxes about, checked for signs of new queens laying. All in all we checked out 12 hives. We also checked out the varroa boards we put in last week. Some had little sign, some of the weaker colonies were a bit bad but not critical.
So that was that, we packed up the gear. One little lass had been bombing my veil for the last 5 minutes in the apiary, she followed me out, still going at my head, I walked up the field, hoping she'd get bored which she seemed to after a few yards. Thinking I was safe, I ambled back to the car to desuit and get some water. There I was, minding me own beeswax and she came at me, I swear she came out of the sun, directly at my eyebrow. Buzz, bang ow f##king ow! First sting, on the eyebrow, what are the chances?
Well it's been three days since we put the colony in the hive. They are still there although they aren't feeding much. They had about half a litre of syrup overnight on Saturday and since then they are only getting through a smidgen a day. They are flying well so maybe they are getting their feed elsewhere, the blackberry flowers are abundant at the moment. I am itching to get in there and have a look to see if they are drawing out the comb on the brood frames but have to settle with looking through the mesh on the crown board. They are still there and seem busy doing something so all is well. It's apparently 2 weeks before I can get in there and do a proper inspection of what is going on. The dog like to keep an eye on them too but knows not to go on the plot so doesn't get any closer than this.
Carl from the association mentioned that someone had given him a glass crown board so he, as a novice too, could see what was going on in the hive after he had installed his first bees. I will investigate one of these although I fear that letting the light in every time I check the feed would be as disruptive as taking the crown board off altogether. We'll see (or not).
All other allomenteers on the site have now been informed I have bees, they are all really supportive which is half the battle. The resident nutter (all sites have them) doesn't come near my plot anymore, since I got the dog so with luck they should be safe where they are. The adjoining houses are okay too, one insisted on coming and saying hello to the colony, she loves bees so was egging me on to get them. I get the feeling she is going to end up as hive sitter if I have to go off for any length of time which would be great. Having sat and watched where and how they fly, they are being very good and flying up, way above head height before heading off, encouraged by the surrounding screening that I've put up. This is great as they shouldn't cause any problems to neighbouring plot holders.
Yesterday morning a thought entered my head, it wasn't clever or in any way revolutionary but it was this. Since I hit the small 40, every June I have become a bore on one subject or another. Four years ago I was a work bore, three years ago I became an allotment bore, two years ago I became a dog bore, last year I was a van and mushroom bore and this year my June passion is bees. I have bored everyone absolutely senseless on the subject. I love learning new things and have been hoping to keep bees for a number of years now but only since I got chatting to established beekeepers, Maureen and Jim Rooney in the Star Inn have I really got going. They kindly told me about the local bee keeping association and encouraged me to join, if only for the insurance which is included in the membership fee. The insurance, when purchased separately, comes out at over a £100 more than the membership fee for the association so it was a no brainer. I was too late this year to get on a course, they were all booked up well in advance so Jim and Maureen offered to take me under their wing and teach me by doing which after all is my preferred learning style anyways I am so very grateful to them and all the wonderful association folks for giving me access to all this lovely new knowledge. So for the past few months I have been working with the Rooneys, going around to their various sites, assisting in carrying out inspections and very gradually picking up the knowledge. I have also been researching quite a lot, trying to get as much as possible into the little old noggin but it really doesn't click until you get in there and do it. All the novices seem to say that. My only issue is that beekeepers are the most contrary people in the world and when you mix Yorkshire into the equation that contrariness gets amplified! I've been told that if you ask three beekeepers theyre opinion on something you will get four different answers, add in Yorkshire and the list becomes infinite. No offence you Yorkshire types out there, it makes life far more interesting and encourages the novice to find out their own ways of doing things.
Well, here we are, back end of June, I made the decision earlier in the year that unless a swarm found me I wouldn't get going until 2011, I would spend 2010 getting the knowledge and experience rather than to fly headlong into the whole thing. I received a second hand hive and some frames from an ex beekeeping freecycler which I had cleaned up and repaired. I had cleaned up the frames, worked out how they all fitted together and put in foundation wax on the brood frames. This clean hive was sitting, rather lonely looking on the allotment. So, guess what? A swarm found me. We were at Pam & David Askham's on a wonderfully Sunday, enjoying tea and some scrummy cakes in their back garden after being taken through a fascinating inspection of theirs and Russel's hives when Maureen received a call. The was a swarm up the road and round the corner that the owner wanted to be collected.
Off we raced, Jim and Maureen one way, me in the other (different Sat Navs) We arrived at the farm within minutes. The owner was there waiting for us, she had captured one of the bees to make sure that they were honey bees and not some other bee species which was really considerate. Many of the calls the association members get are for bumble colonies, which they can do nothing about. There is a useful identification guide here for bumbles. We set off down through a wonderful cottage garden admiring the beautiful flowers, the owner was has a remarkable knowledge of plant species, down to the wood at the bottom of the garden that adjoins the neighbouring property. Maureen had actually received a call from the neighbour regarding the bees just as her and Jim pulled into the driveway. The swarm was about 20foot up in a holly tree, of course this was in a dense thicket so was fairly inaccessible. It was at this point that I learned not to let Maureen loose with a pair of secateurs anywhere near any of my trees. In she went like a woman possessed, a real Sweeney Todd of the horticultural world. A ladder was called for which duly arrived and up she went, skep in hand whilst I held the ladder and the rest stood back. After more snipping, she cut the branch and about half the swarm plopped into the skep. She brought this down and plopped it upside down on a sheet. She had the queen in the skep so that was the main thing. The rest of the swarm flew about where the queen had been but didn't come down, they were a bit too high up to be able to sense where the queen was and join her in the skep. I was dispatched up ladder, smoker in hand to try and mask the scent of the queen in the holly tree, hopefully this would encourage the remaining bees to fly down into the skep. I didn't work unfortunately. Some congregated on a branch so Maureen went up with a box and tried to get them into that, so did but a lot were left up there. Sadly, due to difficult location it was impossible to get them so they were left to their own devices, they would apparently die off without the rest of the colony which is a shame but another good lesson learned for me. Maureen did explain that in easier circumstance they wouldn't leave that many which is perfectly understandable, that holly tree was prickly!
Skep safely wrapped up and belted in we headed to the allotment where the lonely hive awaited. I did wistfully think that the 30 or so honey bees that had been checking out the hive that morning may have brought their friends along whilst we were away and taken up residence but that wasn't the case. Don't laugh, it has apparently happened! Maureen deftly maneuvered the swarm up the makeshift ramp, into the hive. The way they waddled up the ramp was unbelievable, if you ever get the chance to see it I would suggest you get in there.
This is a pretty terrible video of it but you get the idea :-) (I didn't have my suit on and was a bit giddy with all the excitment so made a bit of a pigs ear of it)
The feeder was put in place with the syrup I had made up earlier in the week when we went out to a different swarm (not to be that time), the hive reassembled and that was it. We watched them for a bit to check all was well and then scurried off to the pub for a swift pint. All in all a good days work!
I'm probably not ready but as with everything I've done in the past I'm learning as I go, will probably make a few mistakes along the way but as long as no one comes to any harm I can't see any problems with that.
