Friday was a 19 hour day and then as I still wasn’t ready, I was up at 4.30 on Saturday. After all the hard work and stress the show itself was a crashing disappointment as I took only £63 and the rent was £80. It was awful weather and everyone was suffering, but I have to accept that it didn’t fly off the stall when people were there.
This dismal photo is just before the steady drenching rain.
Still there are several positives to take from it 1) having a deadline spurred me on to get everything ready 2) I have an idea what is going to sell (Gardener’s skin balm 3) I have several ideas of what I can do to improve presentation 4) I may have to readjust my ideas of how long it will take to make it profitable.
Yesterday was meant to be a day of recuperation, pottering around, slowly getting organised again but after separating the quail and getting the two male quail into a cage (much needed- Goldie has been chasing Una round the brooder box with sex in mind and she is not ready for that sort of thing), I took a stroll round the garden and noticed I had a swarm.
Same tree as last year conveniently, about 8- 10 feet off the ground.
I called beekeeping friend who came round with her two boys and her friend and Rosie and Oliver came out to watch too, Oliver looking very cute in his beekeeping suit.
Confidently I climbed the ladder ready to brush them into a cardboard box. Unfortunately they had clustered in an awkward place where two branches crossed, still as long as I got the queen it would be alright as the others would follow. I didn't get her and it wasn't alright. I got 80% of the bees down and inverted the box over a sheet, which they slowly left and returned to the tree. Meanwhile friend’s son got stung on the arm and went screaming out of the garden, friend’s friend got a bee entangled in her hair and in the general stress and panic she got stung on the scalp (ouch!). We administered antihistamine cream, and took a deep breath and started again – this time without spectators.
Second time around, the bees were quite irritable. I was up the ladder again, holding the box in one hand and trying to brush them in with the other, when they started stinging me on the arm that was holding the box. I tried to ignore it but it got too much and I had to retire again.
Friend decided to take her entourage home and I called Steve who is Oliver’s father’s father.
Steve started keeping bees at the same time as me, but his died over the winter. I said if he helped me take the swarm he could have it. By the time he arrived, I had had the idea of balancing the box above them and trying to drive them into it. This did seem to work although it took a long time.
When it was full, Steve went up the ladder and tried to close the flaps of the box. Disturbed, at least half the bees plummeted straight down to earth. We brought down what we had and again inverted the box over a large piece of netting. This time we must have had the queen as slowly all the other bees went in the box. Then all that was needed was to tie the netting round the box, put it in the back of the car (!) and drive 3 miles to Steve’s hives and then shake them into a hive box. Job done. By that time it was 9 o’clock and I was seriously ready for bed.
Monday I was shattered and battered, my arm which had been the site of multiple stings had a red swollen area about 5 inches by 6, nevertheless I thought I had better go in the hive that had swarmed and see how many queen cells they had made as I didn't want the risk of them throwing a secondary swarm. Without the queen the bees were cross. To my absolute horror I spotted one crawling INSIDE MY VEIL. I squashed it with my glove and took off down the garden to where I could undo my suit, take out the dead bee and get properly zipped up again.
Second time around I discovered many queen cells, I removed some and I took one on a frame of brood plus two other frames and put them in a nucleus box to try to rear a fourth colony. Bending down to look at the hive, I thought I had been stung on the back but I moved quickly and the sting didn't fully go in. Shortly after though I definitely got stung on the ankle (foolishly I was only wearing trainers). As it was in such an awkward place I wanted to get antihistamine cream on it as soon as possible so I put the hive back together and hobbled down the garden at full speed.
I'm sure I have left more than one queen cell in the hive and should really go back in again to check, but the weather forecast for the next few days is not good. We may well get a second swarm from that hive.
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