Releasing the queen

Today was two days later, time to take the tape off the end of the candy plug keeping the queen bee in her lollipop cage and let the bees on either side eat through to release her into the hive at last. All morning I was really nervous; worrying that the grumpy bees in my hive might have stung her to death, or she’d got too hot (ridiculous), or just died of being confined for too long (equally ridiculous). Above all I worried that I wouldn’t be able to pick the cage out from between the two frames as it’s tucked right in, and on the diagonal. I didn’t want to risk it falling to the floor of the brood chamber. So many things had already gone wrong in my fevered imagination before I’d even got out of bed. I decided to employee Eddie as a second pair of hands.

 

First things first though and for a while the queen bee was on the back burner. It’s Saturday morning - cleaning and shopping day. In a weekly ritual we divide and conquer (with complaints from both boys relative to the chores they are assigned). To add to a busy day, I’m trying hard to get William more interested in his fitness and we had a 9.30am HIIT to survive.

 

It’s been so difficult with lockdown because all the sport they did (and there wasn’t much), disappeared over night, even the daily walk to and from work was gone, and now it shows. Both boys are pretty podgy, and because they’re bored, they’re constantly snacking but not burning it off. At the beginning of lockdown I tried hard to get them into Joe Wicks daily HIITs as part of the routine, but it was hopeless. They either refused to do it or did it so badly it was a waste of time. In the end I just gave up. They don’t even walk Dolly, despite professing to adore her…

 

Having said all that, as a parent it is my responsibility to try and keep them on the straight and narrow, and health/nutrition is a big part of that. My current approach is to force (there is no other way) Will to join me for my bi-weekly RicherFit HIITs. I call them ‘Half an Hour of Hell’ because they’re so incredibly difficult, but they’re a great way to work out when you’re short of time (or attention). William’s done a couple very badly, just because he’s limp as a rag with the core strength of a jellyfish. But this morning I felt we may be turning a corner with it, he was more engaged, technique is coming along and having Heart FM blasting away in the background was as good a motivator as Rich examining our efforts at close range through his Zoom screen. Err…

 

Back to the queen. HIIT completed, shopping unpacked, floor hoovered, sourdough baked - it was time to forcibly remove Eddie from his clothes-organising efforts and wrestle him into his bee smock. When we opened the hive the bees buzzed around us but weren’t aggressive, and the queen and her ladies were still alive and well inside their cage thank goodness. I put the hive tool underneath the cage to support it and as Eddie loosened the frames either side, I was able to pinch the top corner and bring the queen out in the open to take off the tape.

 

That done, we gently popped her back inside the two original frames, hive tool underneath again so she didn’t fall. Eddie helped me wedge her in securely and we reassembled the hive, putting the one super with stores in it, directly above the brood box so that they don't have to move up through two supers to reach it. The bees don’t have any stores in the brood box at the moment, presumably because there is no brood to feed. Over the next month I plan to clear down two of supers and take them off, ready for autumn. Not sure whether to leave the third, it all depends how quickly the queen lays and how healthy the brood chamber is looking as we move into September. I’d prefer to overwinter on a single brood but it may not be possible.

 

Most of all, I am immensely relieved the operation went well, and I can leave the hive alone for ten days and hope that our new queen settles down and cracks on with making thousands of baby bees. 

 

A quick bite of lunch and now I’m well into the afternoon having gone to Griffins with Eddie, dropped him back at the allotment, yelled at William to GET OFF THE X-BOX so we can make it to tennis on time (we didn’t). I’ve seen James safely off on a bike ride and popped Dolly in her crate while we’re out. Will’s playing with Ben Davies while I type this in the sunshine. When we get back home, I’ll quickly change into my polo boots and head off for instructionals at 5pm, after which I will literally be gasping for the ice-cold bottle of Tiger beer that is waiting for me in the fridge. It’s not going to touch the sides.