I have been missing my bees. It is tricky visiting them as so far Tommy has refused to drink his milk from a bottle, meaning that I’m the only person who can feed him. It is easily a two hour round trip to the apiary by public transport and he usually feeds every 1-2 hours in the day. So you can see the difficulty. However on Saturday Drew drove us down and entertained him for a while, so that I could concentrate on a little beekeeping.
I was enchanted to find new comfy picnic tables and a much improved fence. Tea and cake at the apiary will taste even better now.
Emma and I have sold off a lot of equipment, Tom built us a lovely new equipment stand and Emma has done some tidying, so our once towering equipment empire is now much more manageable.
After several days of a freakishly warm September, in contrast Saturday was overcast and chilly. So I didn’t inspect but did some tidying – removed the empty Apiguard trays and ekes, took out the varroa monitoring boards which were taped up for the Apiguard treatments and topped up the syrup feeders.
Melissa’s colony is smaller than we would like, so I added a couple of dummy boards to help them keep warm. We may need to put them in a nuc over winter.
It felt a bit painful visiting the bees, a reminder that I have been neglecting some parts of my life. But it was also nice to lose myself in the actions of caring for them. Lift the hive roof off, lay it down on the ground, gently lift off the feeder and prise off the crown board. Physical work is satisfying.
I spend a lot of time walking around to keep Tom entertained. In one of my local parks these pretty pink and white autumn crocuses cyclamen (thanks Lucy Garden for correcting me in the comments!) are flowering. I noticed a little brown carder bee visiting them.
Ivy flowers are out now too – an important late source of forage for many pollinators. There’s even a bee which specialises in visiting them, the Ivy bee, Colletes hederae. It forages almost exclusively on ivy’s delicate green and yellow flowers, flying only from September to mid-November. The Bees, Wasps & Ants Recording Society (BWARS) has a Colletes hederae mapping project, so keep an eye out for these bees if you live in southern England or Wales. They were first recorded as new to Britain in 2001 when Ian Cross discovered specimens at Langton Matravers in Dorset.
Hoverfly on ivy
A short visit but I hope to go again soon.
Adventuresinbeeland's Blog 
The pink and while flowers are cyclamen, by the way. The seeds are spread by ants.
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Oops, thanks Lucy. Will correct the post.
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Hi Emily
glad to see all is well with you and that you approve of our new picnic tables and chairs ( much to John C’s disapproval !! )
best wishes
Clare x
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Thanks Clare. John will get used to them eventually I’m sure!
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Hi Emily, it must have been lovely to see everyone had smartened the place up for your visit. Sadly, babyhood doesn’t last long and by next spring when the bees get going again little Tommy will probably be mobile and into everything. Do they make baby-sized bee-suits? The info regarding the ‘new-to-us’ Ivy bee was really interesting- I’ll be keeping an eye out for that one, although it may not have reached this far north yet.
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Thanks Theresa. I have seen some very tiny bee-suits for children but not quite a Tommy sized one! Good luck with your Ivy bee spotting.
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Nice visit, I connected with the obvious passion you have for your bees.
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Thank you Simon. I once did a blog post about a great photography talk you gave at the London Beekeepers Association! https://adventuresinbeeland.com/2015/02/01/beekeeping-through-the-camera-lens-a-talk-by-simon-croson/
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I really enjoy your posts and tracking your progress, I also find that when the world gets to be a bit much that if I keep my hands busy that life seems more manageable.
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Thanks Charlie. I also find that keeping busy can have a calming effect. As long as there is also time to sit down afterwards with a cup of tea!
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Thanks for the reminder about the ivy bee – I’ll look out for it now. It does feel like the end of a beekeeping season – just the last feeding to do and then close them up for the winter.
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Happy ivy bee hunting! It’s always a bit sad putting the bees away for winter.
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I’m glad you managed a family visit to the bees. Tommy is displaying bee behaviour already, knowing what is good for him :). Amelia
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Thanks Amelia, yes Tom is my little bee baby 🙂
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Tom is obviously doing really well, especially with the lovely new equipment stand that he made you! My goodness, wait until he’s in a bee suit and you’ll be out of a job!
*cheeky, I know*
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He’s a very clever boy 😉
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Glad you got to see your bees again. Lots of ivy bees about down here in Devon just now.
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How lovely to see the ivy bees about.
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The cyclamen are beautiful growing like that. They look so natural and free. Here, we grow them indoors on pots. I can understand with a new baby your lack of time. You want to do everything and time and responsibility limits that. It was nice you got a picnic table and things were tidy. Two hours is long travel time. I hope you get to still tend your bees. I have enjoyed learning about bee care.
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Thanks 🙂 I hadn’t realised the cyclamen could be an indoor plant too.
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