Harvest

I pulled over at the first set of gates, still uncertain of where to find the out-apiary.  I stepped out of the car and looked around.  Just then a familiar scent came to me and I looked up over the buddleia bushes and saw a cloud of smoke wafting through the hedge.

"I'm in the right place," I thought.

I hopped in and drove to the next set of gates and, lo and behold, they were open.  I drove in, came round a corner and there was the apiary.  Only one other car stood there but as I emerged and put on my beekeeping togs, several others pulled in.  We greeted, togged up and went over to join P.

Around us, in uneven semi-circles, were several dozen hives, a small shed and a container.  P's van was pulled up nearby and he was already harvesting from the first hive at the end.

Ten of us were there eventually and it was a glorious, glorious experience helping with the harvest.  I loved the way it was efficiently organised, with empty supers set aside between two plastic trays to keep the bees out; we all helped to take out the full frames, briskly brush the bees off, and slot the rich, swelling honey frames into the waiting empty supers.  The air became filled with the hum of bees and the occasional "bugger!" muttered quietly as someone got stung.  We all built up a sweat in the heat of the humid evening as we worked.  At one stage the threatening clouds burst open and, as the rain pelted down, we all shuffled under the shed and sat together, laughing and chatting.

An hour later, 5 hives had been cleared (19 supers - what a harvest!) and we were all divesting ourselves of our suits. 

Someone said, "let's have a pint at the pub" and I wanted to cheer.  Hooray!  Hooray for a pint at the pub with the beekeepers; I've so longed for the opportunity to swop stories over a pint.

And we did. 

And more - to some extent I could feel the older, wiser, more experienced beekeepers carefully probing my knowledge, testing me - how do you harvest your honey?  What sizes?  What prices?  Heads would nod or someone would say "tut tut, dear, you've undercharged" and all along, I just kept wanting to cheer. Hooray!  Hooray!

Can you tell?  I have really missed chatting with beekeepers.