This week I searched three of my hives for a Queen who was to accompany 5 frames of brood that had been boxed up this week to be sold. In one hive I spotted one. She was elusive and knew the minute the hive had been manipulated someone was after her, so scuttled away into some double layered comb never to be seen again. Needless to say my customer has been left waiting and his intended brood ended up in Ragdale, a tiny village in Leicestershire. Such are the joys of beekeeping. I shall search more hives next week for a Queen that is destined for Sussex.
If you don’t want to get stung, then don’t keep bee’s! It’s been very busy at the apiary this month and all my ladies are working overtime drawing out comb and making honey. I’ve already had one swarm this year, so hope the brood found another decent home, what was wrong with the one they were supplied with I just don’t know.
If you are new to beekeeping expect to pay around £500 for a hive and bee’s, and don’t forget you will need a smoker, bee suit and hive tool. Those three items can be bought for a total of around £90.
No one said bee keeping was cheap or easy, but it is a rewarding hobby. Imagine a world without colour, a world without flowers, a lifeless moon type rock is all we would have if it were not for life on earth and the pollinators that keep the plant food chain going.
The world need’s bee’s, more than ever since the war in the Ukraine, about 30% of Europe's bee’s will have been lost during this conflict, not to mention the attached human tragedy.
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