Get a grip woman!

rtandon27

themadvix said:

Wow SL, you sound like you've been a busy bee! (Sorry, I'll leave now!)

🤣🤣🤣 🐝🐝🐝🍯🍯🍯

beanielou

I have just bought a door mat with bees on! 

Suffolk_lass

The garden
Four days of pretty non-stop weeding, other bits of gardening; dwarf beans are in, strawberry bed 1 that was full of nettle weeds is done - lots more to plant out, and the front path has been cleared - DH used his plumbers blowtorch to clear the creeping woodsorrel - we will see how badly it comes back before trying it elsewhere.

Bees
Normally we use the blowtorch for beekeeping, not plumbing! (we flame the cedar boxes to clean them hygienically and use it to light the smoker, and once a year to sublimate oxalic acid to treat mites in all our colonies, in case you wondered).

At the farm, we also set up the stand (well DH did; I sat in the car with the dog) which involved both of us moving paving slabs and various bits of packing to the farm track, and he removed the brood box on top of the nearly nasty bees we moved a week ago. He also added ground anchors and straps so that badgers and deer are less likely to topple the bees. There are a number of badger sets on this side of the farm. Thee nearly-nasty ones were much quieter and took no notice, lulling us into a false sense of niceness. We added a second honey super in case they need the space, in exchange for the super of stores. If the weather is nice I need to inspect them today, ahead of moving the other two hives that are already elsewhere on the farm. There are literally two fields of wildflowers near them, so honey should be plentiful and nice. 

I also spotted field beans not far from us. I am hoping the bees at the other end of the village find them as it is lovely honey.

Money-saving (bee-related)
I contacted someone on FB marketplace and picked up three colossal catering pots for £30. When I think back over thirty years, I spent £90 on a stainless steel stock pot (I still have it and use it regularly) - the smallest is heavier duty stainless steel. I bought them to dedicate a pan to making bee syrup with thymol solution, and the biggest is to boil the frames we want to reuse (DH extracts the honey and has several times exploded the unwired foundation out of the frames because he spins the extractor too fast). These frames can be reused if they are cleaned up, whereas brood frames have a higher possibility of holding disease and we burn them.

I am hoping I have secured a couple more things bargains, and will report back in due course 

Suffolk_lass

I just watched Martin's explanation of the Energy Price Cap. We remain on our fix until the end of August, so nothing immediate. We need to see what we are using with the solar panels, so that we can take a view on whether to keep them secret or get a smart meter and a SEG, and whether to fix from September or take a view on waiting for the predicted small fall from October and fix for then, instead

themadvix

They shouldn’t be secret whatever SL - your installer should inform the DNO (UKPN, I think for you) about your MCS installation. But if you mean re supplier, they won’t know, although will probably work it out given time!

Watty1

You have talked me out of ever keeping bees. Instead I'll just buy local honey!

Suffolk_lass

Oh dear, I explain the complexities of beekeeping just for the interest (we find it fascinating), and because in May it can be all-consuming, not to put people off. If you don't want the faff you could approach your local association and ask if anyone has a couple of gentle hives they would like to put on your land - the usual tithe here is a pot each of Spring and Summer honey and the beekeeper coming in to look after them (so an accessible corner that does not interfere with your privacy is ideal! 

Money (spending)
We have had a busy few days. Following up on the massive cooking pots, we have bought 280 bricks for a bargainous £110 and also a supply of apple crates for £90 - these are massively useful and we use them as bee stands, holders of "stuff" and generally as decorative storage. They are a little battered with some evidence of mouse nibbling, having been kept in the orchard, but they are just what we needed. The bricks are London Brick Company PhorPres, which have previously been painted white on one face. They sell for about a pound a brick normally so I'm happy ours were just under 40p each. They are always useful, and I like having a couple of hundred bricks in hand. I think these are hard enough (they get used to prevent damp penetration) to use as edging in place of the now rotted scaffold planks we originally used

Bees
We moved a swarm in an apple tree to the Farm House, and removed the residual flying bees that are there after they more or less stopped flying last night. Rather than try to keep them as a colony, I will shake them out at the farm, and they can beg their way in to another hive.

We also split (well DH did) the big hive where one brood box was just drawn comb (and therefore relatively light, where the other brood box was so heavy I could not lift it without thinking I was going to explode with the strain. Half from one box mixed with half from the other, each on a floor and then a crown board to keep them warm, and a roof. This made them easier to move, along with the really ansi colony that I have yet to manage to inspect this year. So we moved the three boxes to the farm track, well away from the casual walker (as long as they stick to the footpaths and don't trespass). We will unite a couple so that we don't end up with this being a full-time occupation instead of an enjoyable hobby!

That lot took until 9.45pm so we left the old stand, paving slabs, breeze blocks and ground anchors and DH will see to them while I inspect the bees. I am going to take chalk and write numbers or letters on the hives this morning so my records are easier to keep.

Gardening
That is the plan. For this afternoon and this evening. We need to plant some veg or we won't get any this year, and I need to pot on my tomatoes into their final places. And - we need to chop the tops off thistles (creeping ones and milk thistle) so they don't flower and set seed - We can remove them (ongoing) tomorrow, hopefully.

Grateful that we are only a little stiff this morning.

Planning - DH has arranged for his bike to be collected, serviced and MOT'd and we need to sort the battery and tyre on his car so I can tax it on the 1st June. Then he can drive his car first, before taking his bike out to a rally from 8th June. I will need to get the motorhome washed, emptied, MOT'd and taxed too, if we are ever to get away in it this summer.

Karmacat

Thank you for the work you do on sharing your bee knowledge with us!  I love the commitment you have, and even though I couldn't do it myself, I love that *you* do  

badmemory

It is so interesting.  I could never keep them (either space wise or physically) but it is fascinating to read about how it is done.

When I think that when I first came on this site many many years ago & with a different name, I came for help about deferring state pension.  Then I started reading!

Watty1

thank you for the suggestion re the local bee keepers. I'm filing that as I'd have the fun and enjoyment without the work, the tithe of honey would be lovely but I'd actually be happy with the pure joy of them so at a later point I will follow up.  Thank you.