Thursday, 16 July 2015

Daughter to the rescue wearing her big girl pants!

Hello All
A warm welcome to Jessica Schlenther, Rebecca, Sandy Humphreys, Striving for Simplicity and Clemcat on Bloglovin.
Yesterday I was getting tarted up (  aka shower and wearing non-gardening clothes) to drive to Derby to see my youngest granddaughter's school production of "Grease"
 My youngest daughter had arrived for a spot of lunch with her dad and that  familiar sound and sight in the sky meant... A Swarm!
The swarm quickly settled high into a large damson tree and I'm stood there knowing I can't let our granddaughter down.
"You go mother, I'll help dad" says YD. I quickly collected together all they might need ( I know were everything is) and set off as YD was phoning work to negotiate a longer lunch break!
I texted her just before the performance and she texted back to say that the bees were boxed, the slight hiccup being that David managed to drop a branch full of bees on to her head as she footed the ladder! (apparently she dropped the "F" bomb when this happened)
This swarm was spread over three branches, which David had to cut off and lower ( or drop!) to YD individually. The bees were then shaken into a waiting brood box that David had placed in a hastily cleared site.
 Here is the swarm settled in the tree, as you can see a good large bucket full (the yellow line is one of our washing lines)
And here is a video of them as the third branch has been shaken into the box. Note the frames to the side, these will be placed in the hive with the others once the bees are definitely in there with their queen.

Jobs a good 'un Thanks to YD for the help and the photo and video.
Back soon, lots of things on my mind at the moment.
Gillx

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12 comments:

  1. Chickpea16 July 2015 at 12:30

    Oh dear, I would drop the f bomb if someone dropped a branch full of trees on my head as well :) Glad they are all sorted

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    1. Frugal in Derbyshire 16 July 2015 at 15:51

      All nicely settled now and busily going about their business.

      Delete
  2. Living Alone in Your 60's16 July 2015 at 12:45

    Love bees but so scared of them!! I think you're all brave.

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    1. Frugal in Derbyshire 16 July 2015 at 15:53

      They are very placid when they swarm and offer little threat. YD was wearing a veil so she wasn't in any danger, but it surprised her more than anything, especially as they were so heavy!

      Delete
  3. Frugals YD 16 July 2015 at 13:19

    The fact I only dropped the "F bomb" once was impressive! Do you know how heavy 1/2 a swam of bees are??? Ha ha

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    1. Frugal in Derbyshire 16 July 2015 at 15:54

      It makes the brim on your hat droop when you have a bucket of bees on it doesn't it?!
      You are now a hero
      x

      Delete
  4. Dawn16 July 2015 at 13:23

    Good stuff are the swarms coming from your hives of some-one else nearby, our two swarms this year came from our own hives as the nearest to us is about 5 miles away too far for a swarm to travel. :-)

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    1. Frugal in Derbyshire 16 July 2015 at 15:56

      Yes the swarm came from hive number 7, which was a swarm itself in April. As soon as I see a swarm I run around our hives to look for telltale activity.

      Delete
  5. The Weaver of Grass16 July 2015 at 14:20

    Good you got the swarm, wherever it came from. Hope the production was good too.

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    1. Frugal in Derbyshire 16 July 2015 at 15:59

      Yes we are always pleased to be able to collect bees as they stand a better chance of survival (in winter) if hived.
      The production was good considering it was by under 11s after only three weeks of practice! Quite a few of the children were exceptionally good, but we left wondering about some of the casting which seemed a little bizarre!
      Part of the fun. and YGD's other grandma and myself enjoyed believing that our little darling was THE BEST singer!

      Delete
  6. Cro Magnon17 July 2015 at 05:15

    Oh how I wish I'd taken up bee-keeping years ago..... man and nature working perfectly together.

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  7. Frugal in Derbyshire 17 July 2015 at 09:12

    Getting an idea of your personality after reading your blog for a year or so, I guess that you would make a great beekeeper and it would fit so well with how and where you live.

    ReplyDelete

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