Get a grip woman!

themadvix

Glad you’re feeling better.

How lovely to have bee visitors - now it’s relocated that is! DH would love to have bees one day (when we don’t live in a terrace with a road/footpath at either end of our property!). 

XSpender

Glad to hear you are feeling better.

Eeek to the bees in the shed!

Suffolk_lass

There was lots of coming (empty sacks) and going (presumably full of honey) yesterday - but I'm sure they are just taking advantage of an easy source. We have two large honeysuckles in flower and two more coming and they found those too so let's hope they remember the location for when we have beans and peas in flower. I might suggest we get some more wax sheets as I can make up the frames that  they use to deposit their pollen in the hives. Our hives all need some work but at the moment to be honest so I'm in two minds whether we want a swarm and the garden and the van are taking our focus. We do love having them, we are just not very good at keeping them going (small unviable swarms, too late in the year, dying out over winter). Ho hum. 

In money news we have more than usual in the running costs account at the moment, so I can just order the bee supplies if I want to. We do also need to order the shower walling materials if we are to be ready to camp next month (just in case).

rtandon27

SL - if we are voting (which I presume we are ) - go for it - keeping bees is a joy! 

We've got two hives on our rooftop at work & I'm really missing tending them!  The two people who live in the 'big smoke' have been cycling in to keep the hives healthy!

Suffolk_lass

@rtrandom27 we are not very successful beekeepers - we store our replenishment supplies (like sheets of wax) in a place that is too warm (they begin to melt, losing the cell structure) and always seem to be called on to collect a small unviable swarm when we have not set up our hives properly yet.

Our failed attempts are many and various.

1. Our purchased queens were killed by the colonies, 
2. We have had a drone colony with a queen laying unfertilised eggs, 
3. A new queen who did not mate enough on her maiden flight because it was pouring with rain that day
4. Mouse and wasp attacks on the hives
5. The lid of the hive being blown off in a storm and they all froze.

We are quite tolerant and would only ever take a bit of honey from the second super, leaving the super on top of the brood box for the colony but have never had that as mostly we rescue and accommodate swarms being evicted with the old queen, and prefer that they use the honey they have made rather than fondant substitute as we think that gives them better protection from disease. 

I have offered to get a brood box set up while DH is working in the van (not room for two of us to work in there at the same time). We shall see.

In van bathroom news, a crucial thing arrived yesterday and is too small for its' intended use so we did quite a bit of problem solving to come up a with a workable alternative. I have ordered the shower wall stuff now (about £350!) - I do hope it works. DH is pretty good at this stuff and we are not expecting a show-room quality new bathroom - just a usable one.

rtandon27

Wow SL - that's quite the list of bee drama!  - Must admit that our only dramas have been mites, which we got the beekeeper in to deal with & loosing one of our queens over the winter, both of the last two years.  Other than that, we've had really good harvests every year and sell the jars to staff to raise money for charity.

Suffolk_lass

It's because we are in the country I think - all perfectly normal (though perhaps not to one person!). We are going to talk about bees this morning actually!

Suffolk_lass

Well, spurred on by the presence of bees our conversation about bees got us to the agreement that we would get one hive set up and ready for any passing swarm, and that meant buying some frames for the brood box and a bit of wax (foundation - the pre-formed wax with wires in that fit in the frames) and then I bought myself a jacket and gloves so that I can help rather than always encouraging from a distance. So then we got everything out on the lawn, had a jolly good sort out and moved stuff around. One of the lifts needs a repair and one of the lids needs a replacement of ply and tin covering. We have both I think - the tin for sure, the ply if we are going to use the thin shower board in the van bathroom, instead of the ply we bought. I will make up the frames and pop them in the hive that is almost set up.

That took ages and in between our Son visited for a food and drink parcel (it is his birthday today) and I agreed to pay for his birthday takeaway. He also took away HM elderflower cordial, lemonade, Fevertree tonics, juices and gin, Pimms, creme de cassis, prosecco, Galliano and tequila (all from our drinks cupboard). So he and his housemates will have cocktails and whatever takeaway they want as his lock-down birthday. So many of his friends have been through this he did not want to wait until Monday to have a bigger celebration in deference to them sticking with it. A kind young man. On the up-side I cleared all those bottles out of our cupboard, and I also threw away an old bottle of grenadine syrup - so no Tequila Sunrise but the can have Harvey Wallbangers, Kir Royale, G&T and Pimms on us and a small-scale celebration. He also took food...

themadvix

Between the food and drink, have you got anything left?! 😂 Hope he has a good birthday.

Exciting stuff about the 🐝!

Malkytheheed

Bobarella said:

Good luck with it Suffolklass the Harley's will hold value too so they are assets as well as hobby items.

Motorcycles are not assets! Assets are things that generate wealth. Things that create a passive income.