My new adventure into beekeeping requires me to don the proverbial suit. I’ve been described as a cross between Buzz Lightyear and the guys who maintain nuclear reactors. One thing I can say is that I’m glad my exercises at the gym are making me more flexible because zipping the hood on requires me to get both hands round the back of my head and down my back – beekeeper and contortionist.
No bees yet but I hope to pick up the nucleus in a couple of weeks from a friend and then I will be buzzing. Before anyone gets too excited it’s unlikely there will be any honey this year. The hive needs to build up the number of bees and its food supply to survive through the winter. I also need to learn how to extract the honey.
On a completely different tack I went to Yorkshire Sculpture Park on Sunday and despite the forecast saying it would be dry it did rain around lunchtime. For the first time ever the exhibits were a disappointment. The lower gallery was closed and some of the pieces like the Antony Gormley had been removed. The Long Gallery was open and raised the question when is adornment, like tattoos, a criminal ornamentation.
This Damien Hirst sculpture were breathtaking in its size and the accurate depiction of a child in the womb. It reminded me of the Body Worlds exhibition that Jane and I went to 20 years ago.
I need to plan my visits better in future…
I’m pleased to report that the bees are progressing well. I ‘double-brooded’ the nuc a couple of days ago as they had just about filled the nuc they started out in. The queen has been clipped and marked (but went all camera shy when I tried to take her photo).
The concern at the moment is that with this awful weather they cannot get out to forage; indeed it’s so bad that the National Bee Unit has issued a warning to beekeepers about possible starvation. At the moment they have enough stores but if they do get low I can feed them syrup or fondant.
After the week of rain here I hope it will be sunshine for the rest of June and into July so the bees get established. I was looking round the garden yesterday at all the flowers that are out and thinking more consciously about food for the bees.
Good luck with the bees Steve. It’s vital that more people do this.
My Grandpa had several hives and kept bees all his life. He had the hat, veil and gloves but nothing like your space age outfit.
Granny would often just put the comb on a plate and we ate the honey on freshly made scones, birs of wax comb and all.
We didn’t mind it being a bit crunchy and it didn’t affect the taste. She did extract it and bottle it too but I never saw how.
If we were lucky Granny’s cousin Mary Brown would have been by with fresh butter from the farm. So glad to have enjoyed a rural childhood always knowing whose hens had laid our eggs.
Ah the good old days Marjorie. Beekeeping is becoming high tech with all sorts of gadgets to help handle the queen, mark the queen with felt tip and generally make beekeeping easier. I won’t be extracting the honey until next year because the new hive needs to settle down and produce plenty of food for the winter. I’m looking forward to getting my bees next weekend. Steve x