Get a grip woman! 28 January 2017 at 1:18PM edited 30 November -1 at 1:00AM in Debt Free Diaries 1.6K replies 127.3K views

Suffolk_lass

Our friend (he of our bubble) came up on Friday and we went to socialise with other people in our Community on Friday and then he took us for a meal last night at the local pub, where we had our own table in the garden and all regs were adhered to. Lovely. 

In plans for our projects a load of brand new kitchen cabinet doors showed up on FB Marketplace and are now in our garage (for about a quarter of the price if bought from the joinery place). They are the exact same style as the limed oak ones we have that we intend(ed) painting and many are still in their card wrappers. Fingers crossed they are the bargain I think and a straightforward swap (depends on hinge locations). We have one more purchase to collect this afternoon - a large commercial freezer for less than half its new price and about 2 years old.

DH and I also had one of those chats where I am from Venus and he is from Mars but all sorted hopefully. He felt the list was getting ever longer, and putting more and more pressure on him. I thought I was purchasing ahead to de-stress the projects and did not feel I could start more work as he hates more than one thing underway at a time (and I can't help with the last few bits in the van as there isn't room for two of us).

trix-a-belle

thats very much showing women link boxes and men focus on one box at a time SL
had a casualty in my garden yesterday, opened the back doors up & saw a bee, I think, trying to cool itself in the shade of the patio table, unfortunately later found being devoured by a wasp (the wasp received a headache)

Suffolk_lass

Yes wasps are becoming pesky. We have treated two ground nests now. Despite the hot weather our bees have the mouse excluder on the front of the hive to let them manage any wasp attack better (small entrance easier to defend). Better hot than dead. They have our sun shade at the moment!

Karmacat

What a good idea to use the sunshade!

greent

We have bumble bees nesting in some steps in our garden (better than when they nested in an old vent in the house wall - kept finding them in the kitchen and they were big red bottomed ones ) and they seem to be getting worn out at the mo and often lethargic on the patio and unable to fly - kids have all been trained to pick flowers for them and then maybe move them to a cooler/ shadier area complete with flowerheads to see if that will help.  Not sure if what we are doing is the correct thing, but most seem to pick up, thankfully

Debsnewbudget

Are you meant to put a spoon with sugar water near them? 

Suffolk_lass

greent said:

We have bumble bees nesting in some steps in our garden (better than when they nested in an old vent in the house wall - kept finding them in the kitchen and they were big red bottomed ones ) and they seem to be getting worn out at the mo and often lethargic on the patio and unable to fly - kids have all been trained to pick flowers for them and then maybe move them to a cooler/ shadier area complete with flowerheads to see if that will help.  Not sure if what we are doing is the correct thing, but most seem to pick up, thankfully

The might be buff-tail bumblebees (I think they are the largest species in UK) - there seems to be plenty of pollen and nectar at the moment so the greediness of some will make them too heavy to fly. I think that sounds positive. They are reluctant to sting and the males (drones) do not have a sting.
Debsnewbudget said:

Are you meant to put a spoon with sugar water near them? 

I don't think so. You are more likely to attract wasps that can mount an attack on the colony with sweet things at this time of year. A lot of commercial beekeepers will have taken some of the bees stores to do a first extraction of honey this last month and having taken their stores, they feed the bees on syrup to let them replenish quickly, but usually an internal syrup feeder rather than a spoon nearby.

We did not. Partly we got them too late, and partly they are a double brood box colony because the previous owner was going to split them but then they re-queened themselves so he left them. This means there is a real mix of brood, honey and used wax through the hive that will need a bit of a sort out next Spring or in Autumn. In the meantime there is a top compartment above the queen excluder where they are storing for the winter. Our approach is to let them keep what they need and only to take any surplus. Because they are a big colony they need more of their own (we think this helps with disease defences as well), so we are letting them keep it all this year.

They do need access to water and a few shallow sources is good

Karmacat

Thanks for this SL - really looking forward to hearing more about the bees!

rtandon27

Loving the bee updates SL - I've been missing caring for the hives on the office rooftop this year so living vicariously through your bee-adventures 🐝💖🍯

Suffolk_lass

Bees seem happy, it is a bit cooler now and that is good. Hopefully they are turning the nectar into honey. I'm going to suggest we do more of an inspection today if it doesn't rain. We had a few hundred outside the hive, crawling around on the front a couple of nights ago, near to midnight! - "bearding" they call it - in an effort to keep cool.

I have been trying to keep up with the picking of produce and just about am. My new freezer (for garden produce) is rapidly filling up - the top shelf is already full of tomatoes (chopped and de stalked ready to make my own tomato sauce) and the beans shelf has spread to the second shelf. We are cooking raspberries as we go (lovely on yogurt or the occasional ice cream - which is not on the diet!).

Last night we both had a huge plate of runner beans, picked fresh, topped wth melted butter, salt and black pepper, with a sprinkle of sharp cheddar grated over - lovely simple food.

Money is in that really dull period. Oh well.