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This spring and summer. You would be forgiven for thinking “what about the bees? wasn’t this blog about the bees?” In the same manner my husband keeps asking “what about the Latin? wasn’t this blog about Latin?” Post, ubi iam thalamis se composuere, siletur in noctem fessosque sopor suus occupat artus. Nec vero a stabulis … Continue reading
May news, dreadfully behind on posting as usual… Now you see them, now you don’t Well, not exactly. Their way of telling me in early April that it’s time to remove the barriers and welcome in spring. This is the shredded remains of what I had wrapped the fondant from March in. Unlike the hive … Continue reading
Just in case you need some inspiration at the beginning of the most active part of the beekeeping year…. I like the impression created here that swarming is part of beekeeping and not the disaster some beekeepers make of it. I also like the enticement she uses, no, not to attract Troy, but to attract … Continue reading
This is what we were pondering a few weeks back (running about a couple of weeks behind with these posts). The good news is we seem to have come through the swarm season 2 for 4: 2 caught and rehomed, 2 that got away. The bad news appears to be that swarms have stopped because … Continue reading
Last swarm of the season (we hope) waving goodbye-or is that hello?- in their own unique way. I wondered about that title when I uploaded this video to YouTube, even with the ‘Nature’ subject heading on it (or maybe especially with that subject heading). But I decided to take my chances. This was the 4th … Continue reading
As of this writing, I think we have finally come through the swarm season. However, I thought that at the beginning of June, only to have the following, which I had drafted in mid-June happen. I was just too weary of it all to publish another instalment of what was beginning to feel like a … Continue reading
It wasn’t all bad news from the bees’ perspective on that Saturday. The first swarm, which had been lucky enough to transfer to a nice, comfy nuc a few weeks back, was transferred to even more spacious accommodation – a brood box. Before that could happen (and while the other bees were deciding on a … Continue reading
Saturday 31st We had gone out on various errands, one of them picking up the makings of another hive to transfer our primary cast of a month ago from its probably overcrowded digs in the nuc to a more spacious des res (we do not want a third hive, we do not want a third … Continue reading
But it did have a happy ending… May 12 There was a second cast, across the yard this time and down by the greenhouse. At frst we thought it was the first set moving on from their nuc home. But, no, the Garage Bees were looking distinctly guilty. As with the first swarm, … Continue reading
The last post ended on a bit of a dejected note where we felt like pretty lame beekeepers. And, right on schedule the bees, adding insult to anticipated injury, swarmed again on Monday 5 May 2014. A primary cast of a good 20,000-30,000 bees. But miracle of miracles, instead of going to their usual high … Continue reading
My Latin Notebook 