We've got bees!

Wednesday was a very exciting day! I learnt that bees march. They really do!


I came across this fascinating piece of information when Richard, our Farm Manager and, so it seems resident bee keeper, came across a swarm of bees flying about outside our office.


Rob immediately got excited at the prospect of an excuse to leave his desk and was off and out of the office as fast as if the bees had been wriggling about in his pants.




Five minutes later, he'd donned a bee-keeper's outfit and was in and amongst the swarm with Expert Richard. The bees we've now got on the farm are pretty chilled out as bees go and the risk of being stung is pretty minimal. Richard says that his at home are much more aggressive and that we are very fortunate to have "such beauties." Nonetheless, full hat, wellies and gloves were worn, just in case.







To keep and care for a swarm of bees, you've got to house them somewhere. Not only that, you've got to convince them that they want to live in the house that you're providing them with. So, Richardset up a box, near to where the bees were hanging out, with some ivy honey that his bees had made last year, to entice them.


After a couple of days, the box was full of bees happily munching on honey. Next job was to get them into a hive, which will become their permanent home. And this is where the marching comes in. Richard placed the box near to the opening of the hive, put some honey into the hive and waited. Before long, hundreds of bees were marching up the ramp into their new home. Magic! A few were dawdling, so these were helped along with the aid of a dustpan to scoop them up, although Richard assures us no bees were injured during this process.


Once installed in their hive, Richard has to settle them in and eventually get them making honey. The process of making honey will take at least 2 years.


To me, the buzzing of bees is synonymous with Summer. A lazy, sunny day just wouldn't be the same without that familiar hum. Unfortunately though, bees are on the decline, thanks to a multitude of reasons, mostly connected with modern living.


I try to keep this blog pretty light-hearted but I hope you'll excuse a rather chilling quote from Albert Einstein who makes things pretty clear: "If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man."

Safe to say, we're pretty excited about having our own bees to nurture. Bees are great to have around the place. Not only will we hopefully get honey from them but they're brilliant at helping with pollination throughout the farm. They're especially useful for pollinating our strawberries, tomatoes, blueberries, peas and beans.


Watch a video of Richard encouraging the bees into their new home- look closely and you'll see the bees marching. (Apologies for the wonky angle!)