Andy : BeeEng.

sheet of foundation, lying on empty frame

Now that the hive is up and running, and the bees are busy building away, I need to start preparing some extra room for them – a super, to sit on top of the brood box. This box and super frames are shallower than the brood box – therefore easier to handle and the honey can be collected sooner (therefore avoiding possible granulation).

The frames have been bought with a wire already threaded through it. These empty frames could be put in to the hive as they are, but we are advised to attach sheets of foundation wax – which persuades the bees to build comb where we want it. 

The foundation is a sheet of beeswax, with the hexagonal cell pattern embossed on it. The bees use this to build on, and will draw out patterns into cells, thus making combs within the frames.

black box

The foundation is laid on the wire of the frame, and the wire heated to melt the wax, fusing the 2 together. JP has an aged battery charger, which does this job admirably.

Ours, unfortunately is more recent, and it transpires that it refuses to emit a current if nothing is drawing from it. Andy therefore went into design mode, and has fettled a suitable gizmo from an old drill charger and some bits of wire.

 Fusing wax onto nine frames was completed in super-fast time. I just needed to drizzle on a bit of extra wax to keep the sheet firmly in place – for which my lovely 1930’s chocolatiere comes in very useful. 

art deco knick-knack being put to good use

bit quiet

Oh, what a beeautiful morning. As we sat on the terrace with our coffee, Andy said “It dosen’t get much better than this”.

We had been over to check on our new neighbours, and it was eerily quiet. There could be several reasons for this – the bees were still fast asleep, tucked up in their beds, or they had perished over the ordeal of being moved, or they had all winged it back to the hustle & bustle of Colomiers or they were all out busily gathering pollen.

Rather hoping it was the latter, I decided to try to track them down, trusty camera in hand. This is how I got on…

wings, yellow & black stripes – but clearly not a bee
~ a hoverfly, otherwise known as flowerfly or syrphid fly ~

yes, its merely a fly, but what a lovely rose

excellent – a bee – but the wrong sort

beehaving like a bee
~ a Hummingbird Hawk Moth ~

yes – a honey bee – and quite recognisably one of mine

and another

don’t think this is one of mine, but difficult to tell from beehind

hive arrives

Packed and ready – front door nailed firmly shut

Its time! The call came in to say that the hive was ready to be picked up, and brought home. So, off we all trot to Colomiers, leaving it till 10 o’clock at night, giving the bees chance to make it back home before being displaced by some 30 or so kilometers. The Venerable Bee-de led us out into his garden, where he keeps the small nursery hives (ruchette) and those hives being populated for the first time. Luckily he had kept the perspex lid on my hive – which allows a fabulous view into the inner workings, all in relative safety.

 With this lid taped firmly in place, it was then carried oh so carefully to the Hilux, a sensible choice of vehicle given the barrier between the cockpit and the back.

Beeing extra careful

Before leaving we were treated to a tasting of the latest honey harvest – a mix of acacia and rapeseed- yummy, and hopefully a taste of thing to come. 

 A short journey through the forest and we reached home – time to unpack the precious cargo, and carry it over to Bee Square.

beeing there, in Bee Square

In general the hive seemed calm and unbothered by the ordeal – there was a handful of grumpy bees at the front door, but the rest were quiet. We wisely decided to wait till every last one had gone to bed before attempting to remove the front grill… time then for a well-earned bee-r.

the Bee Nursery

Barrow loaded with honey box

Today I was invited to participate in the building of an extension on JP’s hive – the addition of the all-important second storey (correct term = ‘super’), where the honey that the bees make for us is to be produced. The honey on the first floor of the hive is their own personal stash.

This saw not one but two milestones passed. Firstly we had to get up close and personal with the bees, with JP actually handling the frames. And secondly, we were legitimately able to get the beekeeper’s kit on.       

JP lighting Smoker

 So, a quick run through the checklist. The new storey had been painted and wax sheets stuck on to the 9 frames. Queen Excluder and Beekeeper’s Tool, check. Smoker smoking, check.

As complete novices, we had been advised to wear sporty shoes, in the event of a quick getaway. At this stage, it is also deemed wise to accessorise the outfit with long, leather gloves. These are shunned by the Venerable Bee-de, as they are rather restritive – but were are more than happy to cover up, and especially happy to be sporting the top with inbuilt headgear – proper beekeeper stuff. 

JP taking the veil

So all kitted up, it was off to the paddock, with a sense of heightened anticipation and excitement.      

Dallas was in charge of the Smoker, and the first job was to waft a few puffs through the front door. Having taken off the roof, the next job was to remove the sticky tape from the cover, a few more puffs of smoke and then JP lifted up a couple of frames – mainly to evaluate the progress of honeycomb building. The outer 2 frames still have plenty of work to be done on them.

 JP then gradually slid the grill that is the queen excluder over the lower storey (correct term = ‘brood box’). The trick here seemed to be to do this slowly enough so as to not squash any bees, but fast enough so they all didn’t come up and find out what was going on.  

Then pop on the new storey, back on with the roof et voila – hive suitably extended, bees still calm – and no mishaps, no bee stings. Job done! 

checking frames

sliding over the queen excluder

Jean-Philippe and his hive