So today we'd planned a quiet day prepping for the bees to arrive tomorrow, only to get a phone call about midday asking if we were happy to take the bees today as the weather is due to be really rubbish tomorrow and the rabble is not a fan of wind and rain ...
We opened up our brand new hives and took out 8/11 empty frames to make room for the full ones. As we put them in we aimed to separate the stores (pollen & honey that the bees eat) from the brood (where the eggs and new bees are hatching) with an empty frame to encourage them to build up more stores ready for winter. Once we'd put in the new frames we shook the remaining bees into the hive.
One hive (Kate: we've named the queens after Greg's sisters as we promised them at Christmas) was particularly tricky. We didn't see the queen but did see eggs and plenty of brood. The other hive (Laura) was perfect - we saw the queen with her blue dot and she was a lot longer.
The bees seemed very friendly and we received no stings. Ray told us that we wouldn't need a lot of smoke as the bees are well behaved but it is always a good idea to light the smoker just in case.
Just as we finished it began to rain, which is a good thing as it will encourage all the bees to take refuge in the hive ensuring they know it's their new home.
We will make our first visit in about four days, weather depending, to check on them and ensure everything is how we want it.
Laura
Calm temperament
1 brood box - 11 frames
Saw the queen
No queen cells but were queen cups
Mostly uniform laying pattern
Good population for size
6 frames of bees
4 frames of brood (Eggs + capped brood + uncapped brood)
2 frames of stores
5 foundation frames
Some frames in poor condition - may need to change (spring)
No signs of disease
Kate
Calm temperament
1 brood box - 11 frames
Didn't see the queen
No queen cells but were queen cups
Mostly uniform laying pattern
Good population for size
6 frames of bees
4 frames of brood (Eggs + capped brood + uncapped brood)
2 frames of stores
5 foundation frames
Some brace comb which we mostly removed
Added a feeder and fed hive
No signs of disease
All in all, it went really well. The bees seemed to settle fast. We were a bit disappointed that we couldn't spend more time with them due to the incoming rain but it's probably for the best as we'll give them time to get used to their new home!
Looking forward to visiting again mid-week to do our first real inspection! Watch this bee space! (an approximately 8mm space that allows the bees to move through the hive: it's a bee pun!)
P.S The first sting ...
So ... Greg decided it would be a good idea to go back to the apiary to collect the brace comb (extraneous comb that bees make to fill spaces) which we'd accidentally forgotten to collect. "We won't need the bee suits," said he confidently ... On our way, we saw a beautiful rainbow. "It's good luck!" said I ...
We quickly arrived and went to gather up the brace comb. The bees were calm and there were no problems. As I turned to leave I felt a bee in my hair, buzzing. "Greg, there's one trapped in my hair," I alerted him calmly. Greg fished it out and it flew away but suddenly came back again. Greg tried to fish it out again ... but it stung me. It really hurt. Greg managed to get it out but as he tried to find the sting a couple of bees started to attack him. We quickly made it back to the car park where he managed to get the stinger out with a Tesco club card attached to his keys (other supermarkets are available, not sponsored!) ... when we got home we applied a cold compress, some antihistamine cream and I took an antihistamine tablet ... I'm really disappointed that today had to end that way and that a bee had to die to teach us to always put our bee suits on. I'm trying to remember the last thing Ray said to us as he left ...
"Just learn from your mistakes, you'll make plenty of them and that's ok - just so long as you learn from them. Enjoy your bees."
Wish me luck for our next inspection ...
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