From A to Bee (39 page)

  This worked out fine for me and so Jo and I got Sebastian all tucked up in bed before I popped out in the car once more. This time I tried his gate to gain access to the orchards from the other direction, which is ultimately what I will be doing tomorrow rather than going in via the house; I don't fancy carrying the hive all that long way. It unlocked first time, and on this beautiful September evening I made my way up to his house though the fields, the twilight of the dusk now surrounding me. Halfway there, down a dirt track, I saw Steve in front of me, with his eldest son by his side who was probably no more than nine years old. There he was, shotgun cocked and in his finest hunting regalia, and as I pulled up next to him he looked even more daunting than usual.

  I lowered my window, gave him a friendly hello and was met with three grunts as he pointed at three different areas of his vast orchard. Within a couple of minutes he walked off in the opposite direction and I drove off, feeling rather excited, in the general direction of his pointing and had a quick look.

  The first area looked a little too close to his house and so I discounted that immediately. If I was to expand the number of hives next year it wouldn't be entirely practical to have them too near the house and, if I am honest, I am a little bit worried about those dogs because if they got close it wouldn't be great for them. Their aggression would be no match for several thousand bees. The second option he had suggested was an area towards the back of the orchard which looked simply beautiful. On one side there was open fields and to the other was the orchard. I could see that in the springtime it would be stunning, but I also felt that it could be a little exposed. The third option was by far the best. Protected by a hedge and yet with a direct view into the orchard it looked fantastic. There was enough room for expansion and also it was far enough away from the house.

  I got out of the car and stood where I feel my hive will go tomorrow. It just feels right and I cannot wait to see what it will look like next year with the blossom out. I cannot believe how lucky I am to have this on my doorstep.

  Thinking ahead to tomorrow, I have only one slight fear; the thought of being stung again while moving the hive. I must remember to take it easy and not to rush. I just can't deal with the itching all over again.

Another D-Day has arrived. I have enlisted the help of a good friend of mine, Jeff, who I recently heard had wanted to become a morris dancer therefore making me think he would be perfect for the job of going to get the beehive. Bearing in mind last time I struggled to lift the hive there was no way I was going to do it on my own this time.

  There is another ploy here as well. Jeff and I met when Jo and his wife, Kate, were both pregnant and attending these slightly unorthodox childbirth courses. While the adults on the course bonded over the hilarity of our course tutor's love of herbal medicine and its effect on childbirth, our children have also grown very close since. Sebastian and their little one William, now nearly two, have become inseparable.

  However, Jeff and Kate were brave enough to have gone for the second one a lot earlier and Luke popped out in June this year. Therefore my little journey with Jeff today is also to ask him a whole load of questions about how on earth he is coping. Bearing in mind he has bags under his eyes which give the impression he has been out shopping for the whole of the country, I am not looking forward to the feedback I might receive. Even so, I need to know what having two children is like and this is the perfect opportunity.

  We left early on a slightly autumnal-feeling morning. I can't believe it is coming around so quickly again. It was absolutely beautiful at that time of the morning, however, and there wasn't a soul around. Hopefully it would be early and cold enough that the bees wouldn't have started flying around yet.

  We found the turning and got down to the hive pretty quickly. Looking around it was evident that the cows had been moved on again, just as my bees were about to. In the distance I could make out my hive and all looked quiet.

  I had mentioned to Jeff that I only had one suit and was happy to give it to him while moving but the first job was to secure them in the hive once more. I pulled out my mess of a contraption to do just this. It looked like one jumbled heap of masking tape and tea towel but it had seemed to do the job. I approached the hive and all was silent. I quickly attached the entrance block, securing the mass down with drawing pins once more. It was all over in a matter of seconds, which was perfect.

  I gave Jeff my suit and the move went pretty smoothly. I had left the ratchet mechanism in place so we just lifted it all straight into the car. The good news was that the hive seemed that little bit heavier than when I had lifted it into position previously. Perhaps there was hope. Within five minutes of getting there we were driving back out again and I was feeling rather pleased with myself as there was not a sting in sight. Result.

  We arrived back at the house in good time and rolled up outside Steve's gate. In no time we were standing in the same place I had been not even twelve hours earlier. Jeff and I first had to move a honking great piece of limestone into position to provide a solid base for the hive to stand on. I wanted to give this hive a good foundation. Who knows if I would ever move it again, and so I wanted to give it the right start.

  With Jeff and I both puffing loudly, we managed to manoeuvre the limestone into position and the stage was set; it was time for the hive. We positioned the hive stand and then the hive on top. It looked wonderful. There is nothing nicer, in my humble opinion, than seeing a beehive in an orchard. I wasn't sure about bringing my freezer box of a hive in here as it might not look as good, but this hive was spot on. I couldn't help but smile.

  It just left me to open them up and welcome them to their new home. I was excited, perhaps overly so and because I had given Jeff the bee suit, I opened up the entrance block and just ran as fast as I could back to the car without looking back. It was perhaps a tad dramatic but I didn't want to take any chances given the way the bees had reacted last time.

  I knew that very shortly I would be back up to take a look inside. In fact, thinking about it I will probably leave them a bit and open it up for the first time in a few days when the bee inspector comes around. Here I am, about four months into my career as a beekeeper and I am about to be inspected: scary stuff.

The inspector, Alan, arrived. I very carefully peered out of the window as he walked up the path. I couldn't believe it. There I was yesterday scouring the web for a photo of an American drill sergeant to add to the text of my blog and here was one walking down the path toward the house. He had the heavy boots on and the hat was an exact match. That was where the comparisons stopped, but I had a good giggle at the hat.

  As I opened the door, he was immediately friendly and helpful, putting me at ease as he explained what was about to happen. Alan wanted to crack on and so we headed straight up to the Beehaus as it was closest. I didn't really know what to expect from this inspection but he immediately got stuck in looking around for any varroa – there was barely anything, which is a relief – and all the signs from the hive were good. He did suggest I remove a couple of frames from the hive as they hadn't been drawn out yet. This would allow the bees to concentrate on building up stores rather than wasting energy building up frames. In a flash it was over; this inspection seemed a lot more straightforward than I thought.

  We went to my National hive in its new position. Not having seen it since I ran away late on Sunday night, I was quite eager to see it again. Fortunately it looked quite good in its new location and all looked well… Until we looked inside.

  The last time I fully checked the hive was September 5 and all looked well. Going through the hive today it was immediately apparent that there was a queen cell a few frames in, but it was now empty! This could mean only one thing: that there was a new queen somewhere, and according to Alan it was most likely a supersedure, where the bees decide they want a new queen but, having produced one, don't swarm. It was quite likely here as the number of bees in the hive was not noticeably different, and these events usually occur later on in the season.

  We carried on and I was lucky enough to spot the queen, but she was definitely not the same queen. She looked a little bit smaller than Cleopatra – apparently characteristic of a virgin or new queen, and so I felt quite pleased (and reassured) that I had seen her.

  There were at least another couple of queen cells in the hive as well, but all had been opened, meaning other queens had emerged or the bees had destroyed the cells themselves. This would have meant there would have been an almighty queen battle in the hive. Queens are only able to sting other queens and so this is what would have happened until the best queen won and only one remained. Alternatively the bees could have been happy with the queen that had emerged and decided to rid the hive of the other queen cells. Therefore something has certainly been going on since September 5! Typical that it was just in time for the bee inspector to see it all happen as I feel that it has made me look a little bit inexperienced. It may be that I missed one of these cells in their early stages before I moved the hives back from the heather. Queen cells take twenty days from the moment the bees decide they want to raise a new queen to when she hatches out. Alan was very nice about it and did say that in a busy hive they are easy to miss, even for experienced beekeepers.

  All in all I received some great advice from Alan and it was well worth the visit as it was actually really good fun and I feel that I have learned an awful lot. Aside from Richard who was simply filming me, Alan is the only other person who has been there with me while I have checked the hive and it was nice to have the company, even if I did feel a little daunted at times. Alan did mention that it is time to start feeding the bees which I must get prepared for and buy the right sugar this time. This will ensure they have enough stores to call upon over winter and Alan believes that the Beehaus needs a lot for the bees to survive. On the other hand however, he says that the National has plenty of stores available, obviously a good sign!

A rather apt day, being my son's second birthday, I will forever remember it being the day I extracted my first honey.

  It was the moment I had feared. I'd heard horror stories of beekeepers chancing their luck removing honey from the bees late on in the season with the general mood in the hive not exactly being excellent. Bearing in mind my feisty lot, it could be fun. Having taken advice from a few beekeepers recently, I had decided to take the honey from a frame in the brood box. It was evident from the inspection with Alan that there was nothing in the super and so desperate times called for desperate measures.