Bit of a flap on at the Cottage today

[nickdub]

After planting out some more sweet peas and transplanting some tomatoes into larger trays, I had a bit of a mooch round this morning to check on the activity around my hives.

Well all was OK until I took a look at the furthest one on the edge of the wood and then came the "Oh bother" moment - one of the wooden supports I had it stood on had collapsed and there were bits of hive scattered about down the bank.

So I put my suit on, lit the smoker and waded in to see what could be rescued . I've got one base with frames, a lot of which have honey in and another with most of the bees which had stayed together with the roof back in place - this part was upside down when I found it but the workers will still bringing loads of pollen in.

I've left them to it for now, as there are loads of extremely angry bees who had obviously decide I was part of the problem. Will go back a bit later today have a further tidy up and get the roof back on.

On the plus side I didn't get stung and the main hive chamber had a decent weight to it - on the minus side I'm not finding it quite so easy to lift this sort of stuff round, as I did 20 years ago .

Fingers-crossed for the bees - at least the weather is lovely and warm, so that makes it much more likely they'll be able to cope.

[SarrissUK]

Oh wow, I admire your ability to keep calm in a suit and go near them. I'm petrified of them, but I really wish I wasn't... but I fear it means I can never have them.

I hope you can get it sorted

[nickdub]

Bees can be a bit scary if they get the grumps on - on the other-hand they are just protecting their home, so what can you expect ?

If you are not moving around or doing anything you can stand within a few feet of a hive and watch them coming and going - which I do fairly frequently - very soothing

Any way the hive is back upright now, on a more solid base and the roof is back on - still some tidying up to do, but hopefully they will recover.

[veggiechicken]

Oh wow, I admire your ability to keep calm in a suit and go near them. I'm petrified of them, but I really wish I wasn't... but I fear it means I can never have them.

I hope you can get it sorted

Its amazing how much confidence a bee suit provides. When you know they can't sting you, you can relax about being near 40,000 bees! Although I don't have bees now, I kept my suit and smoker and have worn it to inspect wasp nests.

[nickdub]

Quick update - as the weather was warm here I decided to do a bit of a check over of the bees. The fallen over one is going well and seem quite calm now. I put a super on them and on one other hive which seems a bit crowded.

Noticed some dark bees scouting an empty hive - which is a pretty good sign that a colony nearby is planning on swarming. Don't think its one of mine, as my bees are generally fairly stripey. Got a field of OSR about 1/2 mile away, so if it stays warm there will be loads of nectar coming in.

[veggiechicken]

Doesn't OSR make the honey taste of cabbages?

[mothhawk]

OSR honey is very bland, just tastes sweet really, which is probably why so many people seem to prefer it to the more flowery honeys later in the year. My bees are working OSR right now, but they are right next to a field of beans, which should make some nice honey later on, June time

[Aberdeenplotter]

I'd love to have been able to keep bees but I'm allergic to their stings.

[Madasafish]

Bees can be a bit scary if they get the grumps on - on the other-hand they are just protecting their home, so what can you expect ?

If you are not moving around or doing anything you can stand within a few feet of a hive and watch them coming and going - which I do fairly frequently - very soothing

Any way the hive is back upright now, on a more solid base and the roof is back on - still some tidying up to do, but hopefully they will recover.

I regularly mow my lawn - on which my beehives stand - and cut around the hives - in Tshirt and jeans in summer with zero protection. (and no stings)

And let visitors in to look at the hives (I have clear crown boards so they can see the bees in the hive - from behind the rear of the hive..) with no protection.

In 10 seasons of beekeeping, not one visitor has been stung and of our family the only one stung by a honeybee is my wife...who removed washing from line and squashed a bee which retaliated..(Bumble bees are a different story).

My personal sting count when bee bothering is ,however, a different matter altogether - although I am now virtually immune to bee venom.. thanks to the bees keeping my immunity topped up with regular innoculations...

[nickdub]

Had a quick look at the once toppled hive yesterday and the bees were goign v well - plenty of weight to the main chamber. The guards bees were not impressed however, with a few pinging off my gloves like small brown Exocets - lots of flowers out currently, with the clematis Montana being popular and if it gets hot enough, I daresay they may get some hawthorn nectar.

[Jay-ell]

Its amazing how much confidence a bee suit provides. When you know they can't sting you, you can relax about being near 40,000 bees! Although I don't have bees now, I kept my suit and smoker and have worn it to inspect wasp nests.

Until a guy dressed like a pirate runs past waiving his arms and cuts through the suit with his cutlass so that you can now get stung to death.

I know what I'm talking about - I've watched the Hollywood Disaster Movies

[veggiechicken]

I've never seen a pirate in the garden so I must have been lucky.