Well, you might have noticed that the blog is about the bees, mostly, but that there is a fair amount of juggling going on with work, family, etc etc. Alongside my first assignment which has been due ( I am doing a course) we have made a model volcano, tested it with mentos and coke, thats a sticky business, and started the process of term end and every event that goes with it.

The hive is growing which is great and we decided to take the feeder off for now to give the bees more chance to go out and forage. We need them to draw out (so thats making comb and putting honey in for eggs and larvae) around three quarters of the brood box (thats the one the queen lives in) before we put the super (thats the box where the honey will be) back on.

Whilst hubby was there ‘just checking’ he managed to mark the queen! This is a job that of course I might have liked to be there for but guess it had to be done sometime.

Why do we mark the queen and what does it mean? 

We do it so we can see her really. Its hard to spot the queen in a hive so it just makes it easier. It also means that if you forget how old she is you can work it out. I don’t think I will forget, she’s like family now, along with the guinea pigs, the fish and the cats.

As its 2017 the queen gets marked with a yellow dot. It was lucky I read this as I was starting to choose colours and our daughter had already suggested pink. Anyway turns out each year gets a colour and its an internationally recognised code.

A simple way to remember it is Will You Rear Good Bees (White, Yellow, Red, Green, Blue)

Bees have taken a slight back seat this week as we had a far greater challenge to complete. Yes, we entered to ring to take our places in the battle of ‘completing the Lego Card Collectors Book no matter what else you might have to do’.

Never before has some much depended on so little, well perhaps there was something like that might have been said around the 1940s but totally different, totally. This was nothing like a war, there was no pushing, definitely no fisticuffs.

The penultimate card exchange took place in the car park of ballet with the littlest in attendance for her first drop. All went smoothly and I co-ordinated the proceedings via Whatsapp with both parties. Only one panicked message from hubby regarding the exact colour the Audi he was looking for. I have seen those ads for M15 in the paper and I think that I do actually have all the attributes required.

The final card, number 72, was much less stressful, thanks Thomas and Nick for donating it. We are complete. And relieved. And not tempted to join in with any more card collecting. I have carefully hidden the Paw Patrol Sticker Book by the side of the sofa, and we’ve bought fidget spinners. Its all calm again.

My favourite was of course No.86 BumbleBee Girl, whats not to like!

Pssst, by the way, did you see the subscribe button? Its brand spanky new, you can press it.

So, a little bit of news. There is a Nuc ready for us if we want it. A Nuc is a mini hive, with enough eggs, larva and bees to establish a full hive. They come with a queen and it’s a easy way to start things off because you have less bees to avoid being stung by and you can manage them more easily. Lots of bee keeper associations like newbies to have a Nuc as they can figure things out slowly and I get this. However, unless you are lucky enough to be given one, they are expensive. Having just bought the hive and bee suits I was hoping to rest the credit card for a bit. Swarms can be big, they might be a bit annoyed or fed up, and they are on the move. They are riskier, as they might swarm again or be temperamental. They are also free to the beekeeper, a big plus!

So, we have to decide, buy the Nuc or wait out for the swarm.