Star shining

On Friday, 14th March I inspected the Star and did to it all I did to the Moon, more or less. I was accompanied by another teacher, but again no children. I guess the rehearsals for the school play got in the way.

So it was just the two of us. I dispensed with the smoker, again, and it did not seem to matter at all. The bees were calm, good-natured and, if I may indulge in a little fantasy, pleased to see me. Lifting up the whole hive to put in the bee gym was quite a task, but my workouts at the gym are obviously paying off. Lifting up the hive dislodged the entrance bar and luckily I spotted that just before we left, or else the hive would have been open to any passing marauder.

What's under the roof?

Opening up the Star, the bees had built comb over the frames, much like the Moon, though less artistically. I think the reason they built it there is to have more stores near the brood, as the new comb was directly over the frames containing brood.


The Star have more of a sweet-tooth than the Moon as more of the fondant was gone. And although one whole frame side was empty of stores, the Star, too, has sufficient stores to not need the fondant anymore. I took it away and had it gift-wrapped by the kitchen staff (who have a brilliant, industrial-kitchen sized cling-film wrap dispenser) ready for next year.

Bee egg hunt

The Star queen has also started laying and is following the same pattern as the Moon queen, with the brood located towards the entrance side of the frames. We actually saw the queen (as well as brood and eggs), who was doing her best to appear unobtrusive, but for her yellow spot and also saw a couple of worker bees emerging from their cells, other bees happily stepping over them as they hatched. I managed to exchange one short store frame for a long empty - using similar scratch tactics as with the Moon.

Long live the queen!

Am very pleased with the Star, too, that has also survived the winter well and is now colony building. Kept the celotex cladding on the Star and refitted it on the Moon and will keep it there till the end of March.

Moon take-off

With the weather improving, I thought I'd take a look to see what the bees are doing. As there were a number of jobs that needed doing, I decided to inspect each hive on a different day, starting with the Moon. This would also increase the number of pupils that could come out to see the bees.

However, Wednesdays are match days, so there were in fact no pupils that came out. Hrumpf! So much for wanting to involve more pupils. The first full inspection of the new season was therefore a very quiet affair: just another teacher and I.

If truth be told, I was slightly apprehensive about the first inspection. Have browsed through photos from last season, I realised again how many bees there are in the hive. I was a bit worried that I wouldn't be up to it, that I might panic, that the bees might be unsettled. Nothing of the sort. The bees were sweet as ever (I do love them!) and were unruffled by me putting my fat (well, not really) fingers in their home. I didn't even use a smoker (just had it ready as a back-up, in case), and they were lovely and calm.

The latest skyrise at Bee Wharf

So what did we do? We checked stores (lots and lots: at least four frames front and back still full of honey or syrup), checked for the queen (whom we didn't see, but lots of eggs and larvae, so she is busy laying), removed the cladding, the mouse guard and the fondant, put the bee gym in the bottom of the hive and re-jigged some frames. I am still battling with the fact that the original nucleus came last year with too short frames. This time I took out two short frames with honey stores and replaced them with fresh long frames. This should keep the bees busy (they are showing ambitious architectural tendencies: when I opened the hive, they had built a honeycomb dome and were busy trying to build more) as well as bring a bit more order to the hive. The honey will not be lost, as I left the frames in front of the hive, slit open, so the bees can find the honey, collect it and store it (again). I wonder how much of the outside honey will be left tomorrow, when I go to inspect the Star.

Scratched comb stores waiting to be collected (again)

Have just seen the weather report. Apparently there are sub zero temperatures coming our way again. Will replace the cladding on the Moon tomorrow, when I inspect the Star. Don't want the little darlings to freeze.

Going to the gym

Although I am one of the madder part of humanity, which spends far too much time in a gym in an unlikely attempt to get fit, the title is not about me, but about the bees. Today two contraptions known as 'bee gyms' came through the post. Various modules are spread out on the square frame where the bees, by climbing through them, scratching past them or rubbing over them, can remove varroa mites. Apparently they like this and will use the gym (although in my humble opinion the gym is more a scratching post than a gym). While I am slightly skeptical, I am also prepared to try anything that might keep the varroa count down. So next time I inspect the hives - first inspection of the year, with pupils, of course! - I will add these little pieces of health equipment.

Parallel bars, wooden horse, frames and scratching areas - all in a bees' gym

Hang 'em high!

Space invaders

Beesuits are unwieldy at the best of times, but for children they seem to present an utter labyrinth of clothing mayhem. It starts with the pupils having boots on already to get to the apiary and then trying to get the beesuits on without taking the boots off (has no-one told them you put shoes on after trousers?!?). Then as the suits are large and flappy, they tend to trail them over the floor of the shed or the ground outside. With the muddy weather over the winter this has meant that the inside legs of the beesuits as well as their exteriors have become soiled. So, before the new season gears up and becomes hectic, I thought I'd wash the beesuits. I added plenty of soda crystals to the powder, because apparently that can get rid of the propolis easily.

Hung the four suits up to dry. Luckily that was not in my bedroom. Can imagine waking up at night and suddenly thinking four people have invaded my room before realising it's only the suits. Can do without that kind of interruption to my scant repose. Need to do better than sleep fitfully, as a wise friend of mine would correctly remark.