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It is 6.30am and I have got up to replace that old cut comb that had become ruined in the frames two weeks previously. I have to say it was easier than I thought and hence I am writing this piece now while the house is silent (bliss I have to say!). Replacing that cut comb made me realise just how sticky the job of extraction must be. People and books have said that honey gets everywhere. Me being me was thinking “no way, I am organised and generally tidy, I can do that without spilling a drop”. Read the rest of this entry »

So tomorrow is my 2nd inspection check and I have a few concerns. Firstly I have a concern because tomorrow I will be doing it well and truly on my own and no Richard this time to talk to and calm my nerves. I supose I will take my camera with me to talk to instead and hopefully that might help.

I then have a complete group of concerns that I am also worried about – as a person, I never worry but for some reason I always worry about the garden and my bees; what is the reason for that, usually I am so laid back I might as well be horizontal! Anyway, my group of concerns cover the feeding of the bees and also the floor that they were put on by my great bee friend, Adam. Read the rest of this entry »

So, as many of you have seen, the hive has arrived. Now comes the difficult bit of building the actual thing! Now, I have to admit, opening the package was quite exciting and something that I could not describe to anyone was the smell of the wood. It was lovely and as if it has just been cut. A really delightful smell. Anyhow, the 26 separate segments of wood and the very evident roof have to be fitted together somehow. Bearing in mind the only bit of woodwork I have ever done in my short life was building a bench like you would see in any park around the world. You know, the ones where you either steer clear of because they are either inhabited by the local cider drinkers or slightly strange people that sit down on them, knees firmly together balancing a clear plastic lunch box while they bite down into a triangular sandwich with the crusts cut off. Moving swiftly on; my bench wasn’t exactly the the greatest success as I measured up a little bit wrong and to be honest it would only have fitted one of the cider drinkers and half of anerdy triangular sandwich eater. Add to the fact that the joints were terrible I wasn’t marked particularly well. Therefore I am not holding much hope for this beehive but…. Read the rest of this entry »

Was hoping that my flat pack hive might arrive yesterday but sadly, after a rotten day in the corporate world, it didn’t materialise. I arrived home with much aniticipation but sadly nothing, nada. Today was almost a carbon copy with the desperate hope that the lovely sight of a large parcel might be greet me as I turned into the driveway. Sadly not.

I think most of the aniticipation is simply in the thought of what an actual flat packed hive might look like and whether, while unpacking it, a dawning realisation that this will actually be harder than I thought, might occur – it doesn’t help that one of my Twitter contacts stated exactly this “Flat packed hey, that is quite an undertaking, good luck”, lovely thank you Martin!

There was a funny story to come out this weekend which I forgot to mention. It is funny when you start beekeeping and gradually you get to feel comfortable in yourself to discuss the subject with family and friends. In my case initial eye brow raising, mickey taking and general laughter subsided and evolved into a genuine interest from most people and they have all become quite inquisitive. No one more so than my mother. This weekend as we were going around one of the shops in the centre she spotted what she thought was a lovely traditional, quintassential beehive. She came running up quite excited asking whether I had seen the beehive. Quite bemused I took a walk back, saw the beehive and had to politifully mention that it was a compost bin.

Anyway, here’s to tomorrow and hopefully the compost bin beehive delivery

On reflection, today has been a great day. It started early, for me anyway, at 6am – this time of year I always like to get something done as I run out of time what with all the seed sowing and general preparation work for the Spring – and i had planned to pop up to the allotment to get the first sowing of potatoes and mange tout into the ground. When the mornings are clear and sunny like it was this morning it is fantastic. It is quiet, no one is about and you can just go about your business without real time constraints as essentially you have borrowed time and it just feels more peaceful knowing that you are ahead of everyone. This morning was a little different however as I had a little run in with the farmer….was this the time to discuss the beehives?! Read the rest of this entry »

I have had this feeling now for some time that all this could be completely hot air. I have created a lovely blog (well I think so!) and twitter pages, I have commented on forums sites about being a beginner beekeeper and even gone so far as to order a hive – just heard news that my flat packed hive arrives on Friday, hurrah! – but there is one slight problem………where on earth am I going to get some bees from! Read the rest of this entry »

Sadly this weekend was about building a beehive which never materialised. This was the weekend that I came into contact with bees for the first time however which was such a wonderful experience (see blog article here). There was also a nice pleasent surprise. Read the rest of this entry »

I have to say, Britain is a pretty miserable place to be when the weather is foul, and it has been for about 3 months now! However, today was an exception, it was stunning and it is amazing what a little bit of sunshine does for you. Today was great for many reasons and it all started with…….. Read the rest of this entry »