Tuesday 6 August 2013

Bee moving..not!

Hello All
We still haven't managed to move the bees because of the torrential rain at the time allocated to move them.
When moving bees you have to wait until most are in the hive i.e just before dark, so that you have as many as possible (otherwise many bees will have no home when they return to the site of the (moved) hive. We will try again tomorrow,as we will be out tonight at dusk.
We need to move a hive of bees from a table in the middle of the lawn..not the most convenient place for a hive!. This swarm settled in a tall damson tree over the lawn. Using tall ladders, we swept the bees into an empty hive and lowered it onto a table. We then left it until all the bees collected in the box.. and that is where they have remained. We now have to move them to the bottom of the garden a few feet away. If we were to just move them there, the bees would return to the first site, as the scouts would not have realised that the site had changed. If  we move them a couple of miles away or more, the scouts realise the site has changed and tell the others about the new surroundings and way back to the hive. (Yes, I know all those beekeepers out there are saying "It's not quite like that" but I don't want to bore you all too much so have simplified the process and terms- that sounds a bit patronising...sorry!)
 I was going to put a picture of  table-top hive and of the new stand D. has made for it, but for some reason they won't load. Tomorrow maybe!
 Last night's meal was mostly leftovers (really?!) I took some poached white fish from the freezer, and goodness knows I have plenty of that! I covered this with some leftover cheese sauce from sunday and then mashed potato, ditto, and put this fish pie in the oven. I then picked a few french beans and some peas to go with this. I then chopped the last, VERY ripe bananas into the left-over cold custard from sunday.. banana custard for pud.
Have to go now as we are expecting a visit re. a Health and Safety Assessment for here . Now THAT should be interesting!
Bye For Now
 Take care All
Gillx

6 comments:

  1. Nothing wrong with leftovers. :-)

    Why does Health and Safety visit?

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    1. We provide day and respite care for adults with special needs. These guys are referred through Social Services, who have a legal obligation to ensure that the placment meets all statutary standards.
      We even feed the guys leftovers some days, I have a friend who reckons I know of a leftover shop where I buy my leftovers!
      x

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  2. My friend Dil has the same issue with her bees. They only want to move the hives to another part of her garden, but they are having to do it a foot at a time, so it's taking a long time!

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    1. That is why we have decided to do the "over 2 mile" move. Though by the time we get around to it it will have taken as long!
      I'm told that if you move them the few feet and then nearly cover the door with branches and grass that by the time they have negotiated and scouted around the grass/twigs they are oriented to the new site. We haven't had the nerve to rey that yet, but I think we may in the future as it would be so much easier
      Gill

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  3. Shara has asked what I was going to ask - Why Health ans Safety but then I've just remembered you have people coming and helping you ( I Think I've remembered correctly)

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    1. Yes you are right.. Can you imagine a health and safety assessment on a smallholding.? It goes something like.....
      "Is there a risk"?
      "yes"
      "What will you do to address this risk?"
      " Erm....reduce it as best we can, protective clothing, extra supervision etc."
      " Is there anything else you can do to minimise this risk?"
      " Well, we could NOT do it, but that rather negates the point of a smallholding placement doesn't it ?"......
      They were actually quite helpful people, but we did rather go round in circles!

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