Far Lands

Just back from our Summer hols. Garden looks like we have been away for several months, not just two weeks. Apples starting to form on the cordon, knee-high spinach and shoulder-high broad beans. But also very long grass, carpets of weeds and sausage-length slugs. Already, the holiday is disappearing, but at least we have the photos (we did a circuit around Vallonpierre near Gap in the Alps) . . .

At this time of year we should be inspecting the bees every week. That way we can spot the key sign for an impending swarm - queen cells. These hang vertically down from the bottom of frames, 5 or 6 cm in length. It takes 16 days for a new Queen to be born so fortnightly inspections are OK, but weekly is better. If queen cells are seen then the complex artificial swarming process needs to be undertaken. Otherwise the old Queen leaves the hive with half the bees. (And doesn't come back!) We have not yet seen any queen cells which is good news. Less good is that we made another mistake by leaving some empty frame spaces in the Super (the top layer where the bees store their honey). The bees made their own frames. Amazing! And started filling them with honey. We removed these 'natural frames' - see photo - and are now enjoying our first decent honey crop. The whiter pieces are newest and you can see the honey. This is not textbook bee-keeping but at the momen...