<a href="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/two-hivesfeb20.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-6069" src="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/two-hivesfeb20-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a>Hive 2 has been put in place and I should be ready for when the colony in hive 1 is ready to swarm. To make sure the positioning was suitable I had to move hive 1 slightly while the bees were still inside. The trick is not to move it too far, less than a metre from its original position otherwise the bees can get confused. They orientate themselves by their surroundings and the pheromones from the queen.

<a href="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/woodpeckerfeb20.jpg"><img class="alignleft wp-image-6070" src="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/woodpeckerfeb20-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="323" height="242" /></a>On a couple of days this week my bird feeders were visited by a woodpecker. I'm not sure whether its a lesser or greater spotted woodpecker because it likes to play hide and seek around the feeder so I can't get a good photo of it. Woodpeckers do attack beehives in search of the honey so I'm hoping this fellow fills himself up on sunflower hearts and leaves my bees alone.

Today was a first in my lifetime - I cut the grass in February. Some months ago the automower, piglet, had a problem with its keypad and I hadn't fired it up since. On setting it up again I've discovered the wire loop has been cut so it won't work. According to the guy that installed it, it isn't unusual for squirrels to break the loop when they're burying their nuts. I now need to find the breakage which isn't as straightforward as it sounds because it's buried in the ground. Without piglet I had to fire up the petrol mower and actually walk up and down. Talk about keeping a dog and having to bark yourself...