It seems only fair to admit that with the highs come the lows. And since that last blog I've been feeling very low :( San-shi is a blissful little colony; the Queen is laying, the bees are busy - every bee is gentle.
But Itchy Knee has just dissolved into turmoil and utter rebellion. There has been no Queen that I can see, no Queen activity, no rice-grain eggs, no larvae. Only stripped-out torn-down Swarm Cells, lots of drones, dwindling brood and increasing honey. But above all, the hive is constantly boiling over with furious angry grumpy mad zipped-up zonked-out mad-as-mustard worker bees. Millions of 'em.
And every time I come anywhere near them they try to kill me. No, no, stop laughing, I'm serious.
I'm their Number 1 Target for Assassination.
Yesterday it got so bad they spent the afternoon chasing me out of the garden. My own garden! I couldn't sit down and relax, even hours after a distressing afternoon Hive Inspection. They followed and followed and followed, and hung around and looked threatening, and just simply intimidated the bejesus out of me. My bee suit looked like it had been peppered with little stings all over. I had to wash the venom out of everything later on ...
I know that these are the times that beekeepers must stick it out and be brave and, above all, be patient. I know the weather has been dead against us all so far, with little summer to show for yet. I know, I know.
But it's getting me down, I tell you.
There are a few things that have helped me keep my chin up in these times of Trial by Bee;
"Most beekeepers consider themselves adept after their first three years. The first year of beekeeping is a complete mystery (I'll say!). The second year things are beginning to fall into place. In year three you are on top of everything and you wonder why every other beekeeper has been going wrong for so long when all you have to do is ... Sad to say, after the third year you will find that you will become less confident until you realise that a single lifetime is rather too short to ever become an expert." (Practical Beekeeping by Clive de Bruyn)
So there's more humiliation still to follow, I see. Really, I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
But Itchy Knee has just dissolved into turmoil and utter rebellion. There has been no Queen that I can see, no Queen activity, no rice-grain eggs, no larvae. Only stripped-out torn-down Swarm Cells, lots of drones, dwindling brood and increasing honey. But above all, the hive is constantly boiling over with furious angry grumpy mad zipped-up zonked-out mad-as-mustard worker bees. Millions of 'em.
And every time I come anywhere near them they try to kill me. No, no, stop laughing, I'm serious.
I'm their Number 1 Target for Assassination.
Yesterday it got so bad they spent the afternoon chasing me out of the garden. My own garden! I couldn't sit down and relax, even hours after a distressing afternoon Hive Inspection. They followed and followed and followed, and hung around and looked threatening, and just simply intimidated the bejesus out of me. My bee suit looked like it had been peppered with little stings all over. I had to wash the venom out of everything later on ...
I know that these are the times that beekeepers must stick it out and be brave and, above all, be patient. I know the weather has been dead against us all so far, with little summer to show for yet. I know, I know.
But it's getting me down, I tell you.
There are a few things that have helped me keep my chin up in these times of Trial by Bee;
- My mentors' comments by email keep me ever-grinning
- Chatting on the Beekeeping Forum, and
- This quote:
"Most beekeepers consider themselves adept after their first three years. The first year of beekeeping is a complete mystery (I'll say!). The second year things are beginning to fall into place. In year three you are on top of everything and you wonder why every other beekeeper has been going wrong for so long when all you have to do is ... Sad to say, after the third year you will find that you will become less confident until you realise that a single lifetime is rather too short to ever become an expert." (Practical Beekeeping by Clive de Bruyn)
So there's more humiliation still to follow, I see. Really, I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
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