A swarm you say?

Picture this; two beginner beekeepers, a ridiculously tall apple tree complete with climbing thorny rose and, a fear of heights and some spectators. This was the scene for our very first swarm collection.

It happened on a quiet sunny Sunday summer solstice afternoon. I was travelling back from visiting the in laws with my husband, when I got a phone call from my mum saying the neighbours have come over to let us know our bees have started swarming in their apple tree. Thankfully for us, they're bee friendly neighbours so were happy to wait until I could get back. Half an hour of panicked phone calls between mum and I, and various desperate attempts to get a professional involved, I was home and suited up. We had finally accepted that we were in this alone-apart from a few words of wisdom by fellow beekeepers telling us we should've had a nuc ready. That didn't really make us feel any better about things as we desperately fumbled around trying to sellotape a makeshift box together with bee gloves on-not wise! Why is there never a box around when you need one?! I now feel there should be some sort of law that if you buy a hive, a nuc HAS to be purchased with it. We had no idea we needed it. Would've made prep far too easy though!

We set out to next doors garden looking like a cross between the Ghostbusters and a replica of the moon landing-probably with the same fear and adrenalin running through us too!! It was the only swarm in its natural habitat I'd ever seen, with everyone watching and the ladder in position, I knew my fate was sealed and my next step would be one small leap for man, one giant leap...ok ok so maybe I'm dramatising it slightly but my heart was certainly thumping!

I was finally there, thorns pulling my suit back and a shaky hand pruning a clear path with the neighbours secateurs! I could hear the hum of our girls and couldn't help but think they were just bored and fancied a mischievous laugh at our expense for the honey we were planning to steal from them soon! The swarm up close was breathtaking. I wish they'd done it a few metres lower so I could really take it in and watch them-unfortunately they didn't and I wanted them and me, down. Immediately.

I went up and down a few times, cutting a path and discussing in great length what the plan actually was. We'd decided that another ladder was needed so we could approach it from both sides-a sweeper and a collector. Mum got half way up the ladder and decided swarm collecting wasn't for her and that she'd be more useful directing from the ground. A quick swap of suits and dad was ready to take over (dad who has a slight bee phobia may I add) this was looking more and more like a comedy sketch and a serious case of the blind leading the blind. The neighbours had opened a bottle of wine and were enjoying the show much to our distress!

We decided that dad should be the large branch slicer and I would arrange myself so that the box surrounded the swarm ready for it to fall into it in one gently swoop. Wrong. Dad snipped a branch trying to reduce the weight dropping into the box, not realising it had bees on it-some fell into the box that was resting on my head at the time which shocked me into some form of yelp/howl causing dad to shout in a nervous, adrenaline fuelled rant. We were surrounded by loud angry bees-dad very quickly realised there was no point in trying to saw the branch as it was just distressing our girls so decided to put his hand into the swarm and gently sweep them into the box. I, at this point had my eyes shut imaging I was far away on a beach listening to the waves splashing on the shore whilst shouting "I'm a celebrity GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Which was met with giggles and  sure some hand clapping from down below. Once the branch was cleared I started my descent with the box on my head and one hand on the ladder.

I'd made it. My knees were struggling to hold my body weight as they were shaking so much but we were all safe.

We'd been given some advice on the phone by an experianced beekeeper so we just kept them in an upturned box on a sheet all wrapped up like a little parcel. Mum purchased a nuc box this morning so frames are being made up quickly ready for the swarm to be moved again into a safer, more appropriate home once the rain eases off.

Who said beekeeping was a relaxing hobby?! Our girls have definitely caused us a few dramas of late-wouldn't have it any other way? Hmmmmmm

Here's to the new queen...let's hope she's not a drama queen!!

Thanks for reading!!

Uh oh...

These past couple of days have been a bee emotional roller coaster!

We were given a new colony for our spare hive in my garden. The day they arrived started in the same way, mum and I got everything ready and comfortable for our new bees-we were slightly more relaxed and confident this time as we'd transferred a colony a couple of weeks ago.

The bees came in a nuc box this time and had been in it for 6 weeks. We'd never transferred bees from nuc to hive before but quickly realised it was so much easier! We literally picked up the frames from the box and placed them into their new home.

The bees were part of a colony that were about to swarm from a school so were collected and artificially formed into the nuc. They were the most docile bees I'd ever come across. I'd convinced myself that it was because they'd come from a primary school and had learnt to behave during inspections...slightly naive?

I literally sat in my living room and watched the bees for the next few hours, what I saw was most alarming.We were used to putting a swarm in and watching them dart around all over the place busying themselves with home improvements and establishing their location with what's hot and what's not in the foraging world! This new bunch seemed to just shy away and stay inside. We convinced ourselves that this must be the norm for a nuc swarm as they are already established.

I checked the syrup feeder later on-not a bee in sight...panic consumed me, I went straight to Twitter and old faithful, Google to seek advice. The general consensus was that their lack of movement could be because they were in shock from their car journey. It didn't feel right but having an answer allowed me to sleep that night!

Next morning I had to leave early for work, I checked on the bees but none of them were out so I assumed it was a bit too early and cold for them to be out. I later got a text from my mum saying she'd touched a bee on the outside of the hive and it just fell to the ground-another couple were responsive but didn't move much. This was so worrying as I was stuck at work and unable to help. We sought advice and were told to sprinkle the syrup along the tops of the frames and let it drip down. She did this, straight away the bees started waking up out of a sluggy trance and made their way to the sugary food. Suddenly the two and a bit lifeless frames finally began looking like a normal colony for a bit. Within half an hour a few stronger bees made their flight out of the hive. It was a sight we feared we wouldn't see from these bees. They were hours from certain death.

When I got back from work I checked the feeder-there was only one bee in there, everyone else in the hive was very sluggish so we basically hand fed them again by pouring the syrup onto the frames. They again mustered up some energy to fly but the weather was quite bad and it was getting late. For the first time in my very short bee keeping career I was able (and felt brave enough) to open the hive with no protective clothing. I was fully trusting my new bees and they were trusting me...too weak to defend their home and grateful for a sugary boost.

We will continue to check them and do our absolute best to keep them strong and alive. So many unanswered questions are in our minds, are they in shock from the drive, disorientated, hungry? All your comments/advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks for reading today,
Nicola

A fresh start

So the day had finally arrived two weeks ago, the day we'd been waiting for since February! We got the call that a swarm had been found and would be on it's way to us.
After months of waiting excitedly for this call, we suddenly had a day to prepare before meeting our new colony. My initial excitement turned to angst and fear - "how will I remember what to do...what if something goes wrong...what if they hate their new home and decide to swarm straight away...".

Mum and I suited up so we were ready for the swarm collector to arrive, we faffed about getting hair caught in the zips, battling with the wind and worrying about starting the smoker - nerves were getting the better of us!

Our bees arrived in a traditional skep wrapped up in a white sheet - we couldn't help but think it all looked like the arrival of a new baby, that's certainly what it felt like to me anyway, these bees represented a fresh start and I knew I'd care for them as much as I possibly could.

Looks like we're casting some sort of spell over the bees, maybe we were subconsciously telling them to stay put!

Mum and I carefully lifted the bees onto the hive under the watchful eye of the swarm collector...nothing is ever easy when you're being watched by a professional!

The girls were finally in and it wasn't long before they started busying themselves with home improvements.

We will be(e) keeping an eye on them over the next few weeks, but bees being bees will do what they need to do and we will just fall into place around them. My initial worries have eased slightly and I'm back to feeling excited and enthusiastic about what the future holds for us and our bees. I'm building another hive as we speak, two hives and two new beekepers...I sense some funny blogs on the horizon!!

Thanks so much for reading!

A sad sad day. Byebye bees

I've been a beekeeper for a year now. I initially started the hobby because it was something my mum wanted to do - little did I know how much of an effect they would have on me.

The bee keeping for beginners course started in the same month that I had lost my main client for work, so I suddenly had quite a bit of spare time on my hands that I didn't know what to do with (...apart from plan my wedding and stress about my lack of income) so I decided to put my name down with my mum and see what all the fuss was about.

After a few intense but fun weeks of learning the ins and outs of bees and bee keeping,  I was hooked, and before I knew it we were on a swarm list to have our very own bees. Building our first hive was an experience- no matter how much we thought we knew, nothing prepared us for a flat pack hive!

It took days to get it done, we were very determined to get our hive up and running so it could house our first colony! Finally the finished article was ready for its new tenants. Now all we had to do was wait for a swarm.

The day arrived only a week after our hive was built, a call came saying a swarm had been collected near Wembley Stadium and was on its way to us...we were like new parents welcoming a baby!

My mum and I are the ones staring aimlessly as the professional bee keeper empties the swarm into their new home. It was a very satisfying but scary event that had taken place. We finally had our own bees. Yikes!!

Over night they had started making their own store. It was in completely the wrong place but we were still very proud nonetheless.

I went from a girl who had Tiffany's and Ugg boots on her birthday present list, to asking for a bee brush and a queen marking pen. The bees changed me, in more ways than I knew! Over the first few weeks, whether we liked it or not, all we could think or talk about were the bees. We even sat and had our breakfast whilst watching them wake up as the sun rose on their hive.

My sewing skills mixed with my day job of being a model came together during the early days of bee keeping because, being a bit of a fashionista mixed with a scardy pants meant that I wasn't entirely comfortable with the thought of ours bees walking down my sleeve and into my rubber gloves, so I ran up a few polka dot sleeve protectors for us, to match our suits and relax me a little more during inspections!

My new 'bespoke' sleeve protectors worked a treat!

The time I spent with our bees meant more to me than I thought, for the hour or so that it took us to do an inspection, they let me into their world and helped me forget about my own stresses and strains. I was going through a very hard time personally, but when it came to opening the hive and smelling that woody warm smell, I was instantly relaxed and transfixed by our busy little bees.

It seems odd to say I am inspired by an insect but the way the bees work selflessly for the good of their colony, doing what they need to do and not stopping until they've reached their goal is admirable. They don't deviate or get distracted by anything else, even when their whole roof comes off and their world gets invaded with a giant smoker and darkness turns to daylight.

"Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn't know it so it goes on flying anyway."
-Mary Kay Ash

Baby bee emerging from its cell under the wing of a nurse bee

They were very 'textbook' in what they were doing and the colony was getting stronger, but we still felt the need to Google their every move! By late Spring, we managed to mark the queen and started to understand the noises they were making and what they were up to. We learnt how to recognise a 'baby' bee and even watched them hatch out of their cells.

The time eventually came for our first honey extraction. It was extremely exciting, but we also felt a bit bad taking away what our girls had worked so tirelessly to make in their new hive, so we both agreed to just take a couple of frames this year and leave the rest for them.

My first taste of our honey on a cracker was satisfyingly scrumptious. Big changes started to occur after this and our bee keeping knowledge was really going to be put to the test. In late September our queen disappeared. As we approached the hive we could hear the bees humming quite loudly, they were darting about all over the place- we knew something was wrong. Once we started inspecting the frames, we noticed 11 or 12 new queen cells. The colony had not changed in size but the queen was gone. We started to panic because it seemed as though the bees were panicking too! After seeking some professional advice, we made the decision to get rid of all but one queen cell. It was a hard decision to carry out, but one that was necessary if we were going to stand the chance of having a strong colony to go into winter with. Thankfully we made the right decision, the new queen hatched and started performing her duties perfectly. Phew, we could finally relax again and I could go off and get married knowing everything in the hive was working properly! Not quite...a few weeks into October we carried out a normal inspection, we suited up and went out to the hive expecting to see a happy strong colony-this was not the case, we heard the frantic humming again and the bees darting out all over the place. It had happened again, our queen had disappeared. New queen cells were being made and one was already sealed so we kept her and destroyed the other ones, it was a very tense few weeks, we could see the colony getting smaller and knew as winter was approaching our new young queen didn't have long to mature and go on a mating flight, then return and keep her colony strong enough to get through winter.

We always knew it was a long shot, there was nothing more we could do, it was too late in the year to buy a new mated queen so all our hopes rested on the young one we had. We tried everything to get them through, even carried out superstitions like tapping our keys on the hive on Christmas morning as an old bee keeping saying is if you tap your house keys on the hive on Christmas morning, your bees will stay with you for the year.

We tried everything, from weighing the entire hive to pinning our ears against it in the hope of hearing the hum of our bees.

We've had quite a few warm sunny days here in London over the past couple of weeks and have been watching the hive for activity, we hadn't seen a single bee so feared the worst. It was very sunny yesterday so we decided to bite the bullet and open the hive. Our fears had been met. Once the hive was open it looked like a scene from the film The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Everything had been frozen, there was a tiny colony left, all huddled in a little ball to try and keep warm. It was such a sad sight. They were just too weak to get through the winter.

 

Some almost seemed to freeze exactly where they were, they all looked healthy, it was almost as though someone had paused them. We've now started the process of cleaning the hive out and getting ready to start a year with another colony. We had a fun and very interesting year with the bees and I've got a lot to thank them for. I've found a new passion in life and am so inspired by them.

We all have so much to learn from bees, I will apply all my knowledge when caring for the next colony, but little do my new bees know, that they'll be caring for me too!

“One can no more approach people without love than one can approach bees without care. Such is the quality of bees...”
-Leo Tolstoy

Thanks for reading today,
Nicola
xx

Breakfast omlette muffins

My husband works nearly two hours away from our home so has to leave very early in the morning and barely has time to make a substantial breakfast before he goes, so I decided to make him a batch of these breakfast omelet muffins full of veggies and nutrients. The best thing about them is that they can be frozen. He reheats them in the microwave in a couple of minutes and eats them on the road.

This recipe makes about 12 muffins; obviously you can change the quantities to make more or less!

What you will need:

• 8 eggs
•  1 diced red onion
•  Half a diced leek
•  4 peeled and diced medium sized mushrooms
•  1 chopped red pepper
•  3 slices of chopped ham (I used honey roast ham and cut it in 1cmx1cm pieces.
•  5 diced cherry tomatoes
• butter for greasing muffin tray
•  Handful of grated cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius and put the mushrooms and leeks in the frying pan with a sprinkle of oil. Whilst these are simmering for 5 minutes, grease your muffin tray with some butter. If you wanted to make a more decorative batch, as finger food at a party for example, you could put muffin or cupcake cases in the muffin molds.

Leave the frying pan mixture to cool, break 8 eggs into a bowl 

and gently whisk. I used a Kitchenaid processor but feel free to 

whisk by hand for an extra workout!! Once the eggs have been whisked 

add all the other ingredients as well as the mushroom and leaks into 

the bowl with the eggs. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and mix 

together with a wooden spoon.

I used a ladle to divide the mixture into the muffin cases. 

Ensure not to fill to the top of the case, as the muffins will rise! 

I left about a 0.5 to 1cm gap for growth.

I sprinkled a few of mine with grated mature cheddar cheese for a 

slightly different flavour.

Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes until 

they have risen, set and have no runny egg in the middle. 

Leave to cool then transfer to a wire rack. Store in a Tupperware 

box to refrigerate or freeze.

Thanks so much for reading, hope you enjoy making these, please let me know if you have any other variations to make them even more scrummy!

xx