swarms

It has been a busy time , I entered the honey show and won first prize for our gardeners/farmers handcream that we make and use it works well as a barrier cream and the honey helps to heal nicks and knocks. Our mead also received a highly commended. To celebrate the solstice we took soli to the sea near Southwold. I now have lots of birdfeeders , plant supports and cloches to sell made with the latest batch of willow. Some of the early potatoes have blight ,the more obscure older varieties bought from potato day, so I have cut the tops off in the hope of controlling it. In the garden there is loads of fruit and veg helped by the recent rains all of it needs to be picked for eating, storing or preserving The result of all this activity and unsettled weather meant the bees were overdue a visit and one hive responded by swarming. We housed the swarm in another brood box and when visited yesterday the queen was laying. The abundance of queen cells we found in the swarmed hive we put into the nuc box leaving 2 in the queennless swarmed hive, It is now a waiting game.