On Sunday afternoon I togged up once more to enter the fray. It seems sad that I'm still fighting an internal battle of nerves; I literally have to brace myself before doing a Hive Inspection these days. I had so hoped that, after all the upheavals in the life of Itchy Knee this summer, they would have settled down by now, and that the temper tantrums of the past 6 weeks would be only a phase. But it seems that is not to be.
Liberally layered in wellies, 2 pairs of jeans, long-sleeved shirt and bee suit, having taken a cold shower beforehand to try and cool myself in the 30 degree heat, I was already bathed in sweat by the time I approached the hive, smoker in hand. The minute I removed the roof and the top 2 Honey Supers, I knew I was in for a tough time. I cuold already sense from the high-pitched buzzing noise that the bees meant to take their defence to a whole new level of aggression. I was determined to persevere though.
Honey Super 2 on top was empty, but Honey Super 1 underneath was so heavy I could barely lift it. It is absolutely stuffed to the gills with honey - how wonderful!
Then I removed the Brood Super and began inspecting the Brood Box. I saw lots of capped brood and 5 - 9 day old larvae. I didn't inspect each frame in too much detail; just popped it out, checked for brood and no Queen Cells, and placed it back quickly. The bee agression was so bad I still had to walk away at stages. I didn't stop to inspect the Brood Super, which I should've done and which I'm kicking myself for now. Why? Because it means I'll be worrying about Queen Cells developing in there again. I hate worrying about stuff ... I have enough of that at work these days. Too bad; what's done is done.
When it came to placing the Queen Excluder and Honey Supers back; I stood back for a moment to think about things, before deciding to try an experiment. Honey Super 1 underneath - stuffed full of honey; Honey Super 2 not. Why not try swopping the order around and see if the girls start filling the empty No 2 if it's down below? I really don't want to harvest the full one now, separately. I'd much rather harvest both Supers, full, at the end of the summer.
So I placed Honey Super 2 above the QX, and full Honey Super 1 on top of everything (man, it's heavy, and it's standing now as tall as I am!).
I had to retreat to the safety of the other end of the garden just to de-robe for a second and wipe the lakes of sweat off my face - ye gods, it was hot! The Bee Followers were really bad too; they followed and followed and followed me for up to 20 minutes afterwards. Funnily enough, it's only me they follow - my housemates they leave completely alone. Do they know it's me?!
Then back into the fray to check on San-Shi. What an unbelievable difference. The bees were noticeably quieter, more polite, accessible, easy-going and an absolute pleasure to work with. They have capped brood and larvae, and honey stores growing on either end. They are building too much brace comb because I'm short a few frames in there, but I'll live with it until Sunday (more on that below*).
Now I have to conclude that Itchy Knee's problem is definitely Queen-related. San-Shi has the old Queen (old, how can she be old, she was only born last summer?!), and Itchy Knee the new - the One I've never seen. My heart sank as I retreated from the hives to take a breather. I'm going to have to re-Queen, I thought.
Let me take a moment to tell you about the bees of Buckfast Abbey. There is a long and honourable tradition of monks as beekeepers, and one of the greatest was a man called Brother Adam. He is a legend in the beekeeping community because of his years of experimenting with Queen-breeding to raise calm and docile bee colonies, hardy bees and good honey producers. I have heard one story of how Hive Inspections are done at the Abbey - if even one bee stings, the Queen is immediately removed and destroyed, and replaced with a new one.
How could a colony of angry bees NOT be cowed into submission with a brutal strategy like that?!
It seems so cruel, and unfair. But then, I'm in a confined space; I am working with bees, and I have unsuspecting neighbours. While bees can be beautiful, and magically intelligent and yes, calm, they are also a danger. They say that 200 stings is enough to kill someone. I'm not willing to expose my innocent neighbours to a risk like that. After all, I have enough to worry about!
So. Re-Queening it shall have to be. Now all I have to do is work out exactly how to do that.
I guess I have a couple of different options:
- I could buy a new Queen. I would then have to go through Itchy Knee, find the existing Queen, destroy her, and place the new Queen - in her travelling cage - into the hive to go through the usual introductory process with the colony.
- I could wait a few weeks, until the end of summer, and combine the two colonies. Again, I would have to go through Itchy Knee, find the Queen and destroy her. Then I'd remove the 2 Honey Supers for harvesting and place the San-Shi Brood Box on top of Itchy Knee's Brood-and-a-Half, separated by a sheet of newspaper, which would allow both colonies of bees time to chew through the paper to "get acquainted" with one another.
So many questions to ponder though; is it wise to do this with the "old" Queen? Should I be leaving this problem for so long - ie at least another 8 - 12 weeks?
Well, in some ways there is a gentle, natural innate knowledge that seems to flow with the rhythm of the season and the bees. My experiment with the Honey Supers is an example; there are things to try, ways to work, options to consider. This is a craft in which every beekeeper has at least 2 opinions, and everything is fluid. I know now that time moves more slowly in the business of beekeeping, so I have time to mull over the issue and find solutions to the problem; see them from every angle before rushing in and just doing things, knee-jerk fashion.
* On Sunday I'm on the Rota for helping out at the Bee Hut monthly Trading Morning. I'm looking forward to it - a chance to chat to other Bee-Mad People; ask questions, buy some frames, be around bees.
And regardless of the war that's going on in my backyard, I do still like to be around bees!
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