<a href="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/birch-tree-May20.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-6273" src="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/birch-tree-May20-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" /></a>At long last I've ventured into the area that runs alongside the drive and started weeding. I'm making good progress and it's difficult to set the right level of growth. It is an area under the trees - ash, horse chestnut and limes and it was always the intention to give it the feel of a tree lined woodland walk so it should look dappled and "wild" but tidy. There are now quite a few stinging nettles and so they have to be handled carefully; inevitably I get stung.

I had this idea to move a small birch tree (3 metres) from under the ash tree at the back into a spot alongside the drive to replace a holly tree that Nick and I removed at the end of last year. The idea was it would make a change of activity. Getting the birch tree out without doing too much damage to its roots was not easy however I managed to get it out of the ground, minus a few roots. I've put it into the ground and will keep it well watered so only time will tell.

<a href="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/queen-cell-fuzzy15th-May.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-6274" src="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/queen-cell-fuzzy15th-May-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a>If you've read my last <a href="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/archives/6265" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">post</a> you will realise that the survival of my bee colony is in a delicate situation.

This fuzzy photo shows the queen cell that I chose last week. Then it was just a small cup, the size of an acorn cup, but in the past week the bees have elongated it and capped it off. My new queen should emerge in the next few days. She will then prepare herself for her mating flight and hopefully return to start laying eggs again. If she does not return then the colony will die because there are no eggs left from the queen that swarmed to make another queen. All the eggs the old queen laid are maturing in their cells into workers or drones. I will not inspect the bees again for two weeks to give the virgin queen time to settle into her new life.

<a href="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Super-15th-May.jpg"><img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-6275" src="http://pigyard.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Super-15th-May-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a>In the boxes above the brood box there are frames where the bees are collecting honey. It's a busy "factory" where nectar is brought into the hive in the stomach of worker bees who then regurgitate it, it's eaten by another bee and then stored as a very runny honey. The bees fan the honey cells to remove the moisture and turn it into the thick honey we all know and love (unless you're vegan).

Knowing when is the right time to swap the honey frame for an empty frame is another decision I will have to make in the coming weeks. As you can see these frames are only half capped but they are a lot heavier than empty frames. As a result of the bees swarming last week there are half the number of bees and therefore the rate of growth of honey has halved. Fingers crossed my bees will survive, the new queen is productive and she breeds docile workers.

Trees, Bees and finally, knees. Despite all the gardening spent on my knees they are holding up really well. They click a bit but there's no discomfort. I put this down to my regular exercise - Joe Wicks every weekday apart from Tuesday when I have a Personal Trainer session. At the weekend, if the weather is fine, I motivate myself to do a 10+ mile cycle and one day at the weekend I allow myself a lazy day.

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