Covered in Bees

Bee-keeping Part Six today. We've done all the theory - well, all the theory we need to do to take the BBKA first exam - and we've now moved onto learning sessions that are all practical.

And didn't we get a practical today!

Our bee mentors had, earlier this week, bought a colony that was full to bursting and needed to be re-hived with an extra half-brood box on top. A bit like adding a loft extension, to give the growing family a bit more space to store their expanding brood, with, no doubt, their DVD/ soft toy/Lego collections, too. The bees, because space was cramped, were telling anyone who cared to listent that they needed a new home NOW!

Duly togged up in suits and gloves and wellies and veils, Andy and I followed our mentors into their apiary, and the Valley of Bees. The noise was palpable. The bees were growing antsy because of their lack of space.

'We'll inspect the brood frames for queen cells,' said Scott. 'I suspect this colony might be on the verge of swarming.'

In we went with the smoker. Off came the roof and the crown board. Tens of thousands of bees stared up at us. Never had I seen such a mass of bees close up. The gentle hum became, within seconds, a much louder, more persistent 'back-off-our-hive' buzz. The foraging bees, and the ones designated to guard the hive, started their defensive. Immediately, I got an itch in my ear. I thought, I checked my suit; there are no gaps. Do I have a bee in here with me, or is it just a stray hair? I stood very still. Nothing stung me. Hair it was then.

A few brave bees tried banging into the front of my veil. But I found that by staying still and calm, they soon went away.

And then, sure enough, as we inspected each frame and transfered it into its new hive with des res loft extension, we started to find queen cells. Three or four of them were charged with an egg and Royal Jelly. Luckily, they were uncapped. If they had reached capping stage, within a day or so, there would be little to be done to stop a swarm. The old queen would have been on her way, taking half the colony with her.

It was truly fascinating stuff. We saw all the bees that make a colony - workers, drones and queen - drones cells, stores of honey and pollen, baby bees being born, some eggs, some larva, a wax moth (which got squished PDQ), and some propolis and brace comb.

The more time we spend discovering bees, the more we are realising what a responsibilty we are going to be taking on when we collect our first colony, hopefully in a couple of weeks' time. On the way home from Bee-Keeping Part Six, we bought the wood we needed to make the hive stand. (When I say 'we', I mean Andy. He's hammering and sawing as I write.) We're starting to scan the interwebbly for additional equipment - more brood boxes and supers, a skep in case we are called upon in the future to collect a swarm. We are reading everything to do with bee-keeping we can lay our hands on. Andy is collecting bee pod-casts on his i-Phone. It's all becoming rather big.

Which is good.