May: Basic assessment day

We really couldn't have been more prepared for our seven eager "beginners" to be undertaking theri basic assessment.  The tea and biscuits were well stocked ( thanks Liz), the single brood hives were selected and we'd even cleaned out the smokers...

In fact there were almost too many to choose from...

But of course the one thing we couldn't control was the lovely English weather... would we get all the assessment completed before the threatened thunder storms arrived from the continent?  The morning sessions got off to a great start with a gentle puff of smoke...

The first frames were examined in great detail...

There were drips and drops of rain at lunchtime but undeterred we carried on...

So now its all over.  It didn't actually rain or thunder ( phew!) so all of the assessments were completed..

So now we just have to wait with baited breath for the results.  What a good job bee keepers are well practised at being patient!

May: Bee keeping experiment

Did you know that in a quiet corner of an Epsom allotment there is a small experiment in bee keeping under way?

We've been given a Beehaus style bee hive and its fair to say we haven't seen anything quite like it before...

After a bit of head scratching we decided there was nothing else for it  - we simply had to put some bees in it and see how they got on...

First to load the brood area with some deep frames...

Then gently encouraging a swarm out of its box...

The plastic queen excluder confused us for a short time, which way round do you think it should go?

 




At least the first couple of workers venturing up the foundation poked their heads through it happily enough...

We loaded the supers with a few frames of stores...

 




and then popped the lid back on.  The bees seem to be quite happy using the front door....despite the name plate...