I got home last night and thought I should check on the feed. The guidance was "give them more feed after three days. But only one more feed, then they should be on their own!" This was my first solo foray into a bee hive. Man, was I nervous! And it showed. LOL! As I got all my preparations together, I realised that every visit to a hive requires a whole lot of sequential thinking. So, for instance:
1. Boil kettle and mix up sugar and water feed mix.
2. Allow to cool.
3. Prepare smoker (more hilarity to follow on that little item)
4. Climb into bee suit.
5. Have I got everything? Bee box, gloves, matches, hive tool (nifty new holder down the leg of my left wellie for quick retrieval. I feel like Ursula Andress in Dr No - Knife in the Bikini. NOT! :)
6. Approach hive and apply smoker.
7. Lift off top and crownboard.
8. Retrieve feeder. (Omigoodness it's covered in bees - brush off; oh no, did I get Queen? Oh dear, I hope she's still in there!)
9. Replace crownboard and top.
10. Retreat to kitchen.
11. Remove bee suit.
12. Decant feed into feeder, and up-end on tray.
13. Back into bee suit.
14. Back down to hive.
15. Remove top and crownboard again.
16. Replace feeder.
17. Replace crownboard and top.
18. Retreat, remove bee suit and damp out smoker.
19. Where are the gin and tonics!?
It would've been easier, I know, if I'd had a second feeder to simply replace with the first one, but ... oh, it's a long story, never mind. Suffice to say, you really do learn on the job.
For instance, the smoker. It's all very well to say "I'm now going to start collecting good material to pop in my smoker in future." Except I hadn't bother to start on that. So my smoker was lit, with a few twigs and some rosemary stuffed in there, comined with a piece of kitchen roll thrown in for luck. Pitiful effort, Margo, just pitiful! A few paltry puffs of pale smoke waft out and it immediately died out. When I removed the feeder, the bees indignantly buzzed around me. Of course I hadn't popped enough smoke in there. My initial instinct had been to not even bother with a smoker. Strangely enough, these bees feel so gentle and so unthreatening, I don't believe I was wrong. But I need to consider that a fully-prepared smoker, even just in standby mode, is absolutely necessary.
Practice, practice, practice! And start collecting egg-boxes, too!
After I'd placed the new feed in the hive, I sat a while to watch the action. The bees simply went crazy. I'd made the mistake of spilling some on the exterior of the hive. Bad move, as I reckon it will attract robber bees. I tried wiping it off; this did NOT impress the bees at all. For the best part of an hour after my intrusion, bees zoomed around frantically at the entrance. They reminded me of sharks in a feeding frenzy - funny, that! :) Interestingly, there are also several bumblebees that hang around regularly underneath the hive now. They're clearly drawn by the sweetness of the scents - of feed, and of nectar, hopefully.
One lovely sign was seeing one of the bees entering the hive with pollen baskets stuffed full on each side of its body. And it's also lovely to see how comfortable both Kate and Guy are becoming with the bees floating around the garden.
A wonderful, wonderful sight indeed.
It would've been easier, I know, if I'd had a second feeder to simply replace with the first one, but ... oh, it's a long story, never mind. Suffice to say, you really do learn on the job.
For instance, the smoker. It's all very well to say "I'm now going to start collecting good material to pop in my smoker in future." Except I hadn't bother to start on that. So my smoker was lit, with a few twigs and some rosemary stuffed in there, comined with a piece of kitchen roll thrown in for luck. Pitiful effort, Margo, just pitiful! A few paltry puffs of pale smoke waft out and it immediately died out. When I removed the feeder, the bees indignantly buzzed around me. Of course I hadn't popped enough smoke in there. My initial instinct had been to not even bother with a smoker. Strangely enough, these bees feel so gentle and so unthreatening, I don't believe I was wrong. But I need to consider that a fully-prepared smoker, even just in standby mode, is absolutely necessary.
Practice, practice, practice! And start collecting egg-boxes, too!
After I'd placed the new feed in the hive, I sat a while to watch the action. The bees simply went crazy. I'd made the mistake of spilling some on the exterior of the hive. Bad move, as I reckon it will attract robber bees. I tried wiping it off; this did NOT impress the bees at all. For the best part of an hour after my intrusion, bees zoomed around frantically at the entrance. They reminded me of sharks in a feeding frenzy - funny, that! :) Interestingly, there are also several bumblebees that hang around regularly underneath the hive now. They're clearly drawn by the sweetness of the scents - of feed, and of nectar, hopefully.
One lovely sign was seeing one of the bees entering the hive with pollen baskets stuffed full on each side of its body. And it's also lovely to see how comfortable both Kate and Guy are becoming with the bees floating around the garden.
A wonderful, wonderful sight indeed.
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