So in our first year of bee-keeping we have two hives live now.
The first one is our swarm which we collected in Jubilee year, now named Jubilee hive. It's a bit temperamental - by which I mean, we occasionally have to use smoke to move the bees. But none have 'pinged' us.
The second hive includes bees from a nucleus we got off a friendly supplier in Surrey. He put together 5 frames for a new bee keeper and we were given clear instructions for how to progress. This queen (Mags) has been laying in every cell as soon as it is drawn and we now have a healthy volume of bees. And this colony is even more calm than Jubilee hive. I've seen Queen Mags laying eggs on more than one occasion - literally finding a cell, reversing in, laying her egg and moving on. She and her lovely workers aren't in the least bit interested in us.
So last weekend, we invited over Freya - our 6 year old friend who loves all sorts of insects and bugs. We don't have any children's suits, so we put her in what we could and used duct tape across every cuff and collar. She was strapped in and loved it.
True to form, Queen Mags was on duty. She showed Freya around the hive. We identified eggs, larvae, sealed brood, honey and different coloured pollen. But the highlight of the day for Freya was watching a bee emerge from its cell, antennae feeling the way out.
Apparently these bees are 'cute'.
[ I will attach a photo or two of cute bees, and cute Freya but not today. Bee-keeping forum database won't let me. :-( ]
The first one is our swarm which we collected in Jubilee year, now named Jubilee hive. It's a bit temperamental - by which I mean, we occasionally have to use smoke to move the bees. But none have 'pinged' us.
The second hive includes bees from a nucleus we got off a friendly supplier in Surrey. He put together 5 frames for a new bee keeper and we were given clear instructions for how to progress. This queen (Mags) has been laying in every cell as soon as it is drawn and we now have a healthy volume of bees. And this colony is even more calm than Jubilee hive. I've seen Queen Mags laying eggs on more than one occasion - literally finding a cell, reversing in, laying her egg and moving on. She and her lovely workers aren't in the least bit interested in us.
So last weekend, we invited over Freya - our 6 year old friend who loves all sorts of insects and bugs. We don't have any children's suits, so we put her in what we could and used duct tape across every cuff and collar. She was strapped in and loved it.
True to form, Queen Mags was on duty. She showed Freya around the hive. We identified eggs, larvae, sealed brood, honey and different coloured pollen. But the highlight of the day for Freya was watching a bee emerge from its cell, antennae feeling the way out.
Apparently these bees are 'cute'.
[ I will attach a photo or two of cute bees, and cute Freya but not today. Bee-keeping forum database won't let me. :-( ]
