Between the kids being home for two weeks over Easter, and the usual list of jobs, I’ve not had time to craft anything lately. Which isn’t to say I’ve not made anything, just that it doesn’t really qualify as a craft and it’s not been particularly artistic. My husband and I are beekeepers and at this time of year (partly because we’re pretty disorganised), our roll becomes more hands on. Over winter the bees hibernate and we leave them to it, hoping they’ll emerge in the spring alive and well. We have 6 hives at the moment, and they’ve all made it through the winter months and are now gathering nectar and pollen and hatching babies.
Our bee hives are made up of boxes, which can be added to as the hive grows throughout the spring and reduced in size in the autumn. Each box contains eleven frames and each frame needs a fresh sheet of foundation (the wax sheets pictured below) before it is placed in the hive, which is what I’ve been doing recently. So far I’ve done about 30, but we’ll probably need another 60 doing before the season peaks and the hives start to shrink again.
I really enjoy this job, it’s meditative, reasonably quick work and it makes my hands smell of bees wax and propolis. I’ve included a picture of our hens as my workbench is right next-door to their run, they like to say hello when we’re all outside. After the frames are re-built we give them to the bees to use as they see fit – they are such a clever bunch.
Thanks for dropping by, Polly
45 Ginger Biscuits 