28. The bees...and John Terry...
The beekeeper has been to visit, and together we inspected the hive. Good, and surprising news - the bees have survived the Farlands Winter (the hive was probably warmer, and certainly had less condensation than our house). There are about 30 000 of them, they are 'Queen-right' ie she survived and looks healthy. No obvious disease. The concern, however, is that she is not laying (it takes about three weeks from egg to new worker bee, so if this situation persist then we will not have an increasing population which is essential at this time of year). So, we fed them a fondant (like a malleable slab of Kendal Mint Cake), and will re-inspect them in a week or so. Meanwhile I have built a two-hive bee platform (in a slightly sunnier place). And I am moving the hive in stages towards it. Paradoxically, despite their oft-reported intelligence, bees get lost if they are moved more than three feet or so. So, the rule is move them '3 feet or 3 miles'. Other distances have to b...
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