Heavy showers were promised for the weekend except no one told the rain clouds. It rained Friday evening and was still raining the next morning. Saturday was quite nice but I was at work but later in the day it started raining, heavily and continuously for hours.
I was glad to get this week over at work. I had a "do" to go to in Canary Wharf which ended being a very long day and interfered with my work schedule. Friday was no better. To end the week H and her friend, Casandra, had organised a trip to Sir John Moores to see a play. Casandra's hubby, Tony and I were "invited". At 18.30 we had a Tea at Casandra's to set us up for the play. We had a lovely Tea and a few drinks. The play was a touring production by the Ratatat Theatre Company. Click HERE for their website. It was really quite funny although it took a while for the red wine to clear the day's nonsense from my head. The play was a two-hander and with only thirty odd people in the audience it was, what I believe theatre journo's would call, "intimate".
Saturday was a wash out because of work and rain. It did give me chance to sow ten trays of assorted seeds, Broad Beans, Cabbage, Lettuce, Caulis. I also did Cucumbers. It took me three trips to get all the trays over to Mo'. I watered everything and took a few minutes to tie back the Tomatoes. They are doing very well and have lot of flowers. Sunday' outlook was little better than Saturday. I had to do the trailer run in and out of the showers. At one stage I was sat in the boot of the car watching the rain bounce off the trailer for ten full minutes. I can report the drain I put in a few months ago did a very fine job. H and I decided that we would go over to the Bees just to check on the river. So heavy was the rain I thought I should check the level. We got all the Hiking waterproofs out, threw them in the back of the car and drove over to the apiary. We parked in the coppice and got togged up. We walked the quarter mile through the tunnels to a tattoo of rain on the plastic sheeting of the tunnels. We had a nice chat even if it was half shouted so as to be heard over the din. The rain eased off for a while so I was able to pop the lids off the hives and have a peek in. Everything look snug but one hive gave me pause for thought. The flight board was littered with dead bees. There was a load more on the grass outside the hive perhaps as many as fifty. House bees were dragging some more bees to the entrance and kicking them out. Was this the dreaded CCD? I sat in the rain, in the wet grass in front of the hive and ran the possible scenarios through my head. I could see straight in the hive entrances. The bees were huddling together for warmth, as you would expect, but others were going about the hive quite freely. There were bees coming back in from foraging. The other hives was fine. It has always been a bit stronger. The dead bees were by the hive. CCD hives have no bees. I put it down to possible robbing. There were a couple of Wasps flitting about. I figured that the dead bees were those killed in defending the hive. It was also possible that the dead bees were foragers that had reached the end of their life but the bad weather had kept them in the hive rather than them dying whilst away from the hive. In any case I resolved to have a long lunch on Monday and go over to see them.
My brain was idling so I sat down with pencil paper, a tape measure and some of my bee gear and designed a tool box for my bee fettling kit. It might never get made but it passed on hour.
Monday was given as sunny periods and broken cloud. I left the office at one o'clock. It had not rained all morning and was reasonably warm with a light breeze. When I got the apiary the bees were flying freely so I felt happy enough to fettle the hives. I did the weaker one first. There were no dead bees present in or on the flight board. The bees were busy feeding and foraging. I found a sealed Queens cell which indicates they were about to swarm. I picked out the cell and looked for the Queen. I could not find her but brand new eggs were present. There was also a lot of bees. A sure sign that the colony had not swarmed. I rearranged a few frames which would kid the bees that there was more space, a tactic to prevent them swarming. I have ordered some more super frames. When they come I will make up super and plonk it on the hive. Bees swarm when they feel constricted. By making the hive bigger I hope to persuade them to stay put. I also fitted a entrance block which will make the bees job of defending the door way much easier. The entrance block will allow perhaps a dozen bees to pass in and out whereas the standard entrance will let hundreds come and go at once.
I looked through the stronger colony. I cleared down a couple of preparatory Queen cells but otherwise all was well. I saw the Queen which is always a bonus. The last job was to top the feeders up. The bees were greedily scoffing the syrup and settled down very quickly.
I do not think I will ever be a pipe smoker. I can not keep my smoker running. The straw I use in the smoker gives off a harsh smoke which just upsets the bees. Next time I think I will not use the smoker unless the girls are not playing ball.
I did not need to go over to the river. I could see it from were I was stood. It was still a foot from the bank tops but a good foot or more higher than we had seen it before. The rain has stopped for some time so I reckon the waters will subside.
Monday evening was dry and fairly sunny so I resolved to take the pumpkins and Squashes to the lottie to be planted out. That is just what I did. I did a bit of weeding and came away. I can say with some confidence that I will not be short of Pumpkins or Butternut squash. It was nice to have a couple of hours just pottering about. The Sweet Corn is getting established. I aways look forward to fresh corn cobs.
No comments:
Post a Comment