Fondant

Last week the snow stopped and the weather was a little warmer although not enough to melt the snow. I collected the new trailer an trundled over to the lottie. We at the lottie decided that we should look after the perimeter hedge by providing some manure to feed the border. I put Degsy in four wheel drive and trundled round the park to the border in question. I parked Degsy up, dropped the tailgate to find that the manure was frozen solid. I had to get the mattock out to break up the mass. Then it was just a matter of spreading the muck long the border. I had move Degsy and loosen the manure a couple of times before the trailer was empty.

After dropping Degsy back to the stable and having a chat to Angie & Chris I went over to the apiary. I was a bit disappointed to find the snow had disappeared completely. The sun was bright but the wind was bitter. I parked Degsy in the usual place. I did not put my bee gear on but put my hive tool in my trouser pockets and picked up the two blocks of fondant that I had had three goes at making. I wandered over to the hives. One colony had died out early in the winter but as I have previously reported I had expected that to happen. I put my ear to the hive and was happy to hear the hum of the colony. I looked in the front of the hive but there were no bees moving. That just meant they were tightly clustered. I stripped the hive down to the excluder. I put on an eke and then the fondant blocks. Then I reassembled the hive by putting a super back on then the crown board and roof as quick as I could without being rough. I re-tied the straps and stood back. The bees did not pile out of the hive so I figure I did the job smoothly and deftly and with luck they should be fine for now.

I checked the other hives for visitor but found nothing. The visitors I was looking for evidence of mice and wax moth. I looked around the site with a view to expanding it. The undergrowth had died back as far it would ever go so it gave a good idea of the structure of site. I wandered back to Degy stopping to have a look in the river. It was swollen with melt water but it still looked thick and dark. I got my Trangia out and made a brew. Whilst waiting for the kettle to boil and again when the brew was made I sat on my deck chair in the sun with my back to the wind. It was a bit surreal.It was the first time since Christmas where I had twenty minutes entirely to myself. Tea supped and blue ribbon bars scoffed I drove home.