Well beehaved bees

The bees have arrived and not only did they survive their travels with very few casualties, but they even tucked themselves up into their own new homes without terribly much bother. You see, yesterday morning early I hurt my back. Not badly but enough to disable my strength and slow my stride to a creep. I cannot believe how stupid this is and am appalled at how much of my work depends on me being in top top health. I have a long list!

Right at the beginning of the day I lifted gallon jug of molasses. I have lifted one like this every day, twice a day for years and bang went my back. This so seldom happens and not for years, so the lift and twist had become casual.

We drove to collect the bees and drove back with me sitting very carefully in the passenger seat with its seat heater on, Blue the Mouth sitting at my feet, TonTon behind my seat. And on the way home two boxes of bees in the rear. I would have taken photos at the apiary but I was having some trouble walking upright without grimacing (I have  my public to think of you know) and my arms were quite tingly (gone now).  So it was all I could do to smile and say thank you ever so much, receive my two pounds of bees and saunter back to the car as nonchalantly as possible. Ill is something I Do NOT do.

So as I am the bee brains I used John as the brawn and we proceeded to release the bees into their new homes.  Usually I can just give the boxes a couple of good thumps and the pile of bees fall straight into the super but I was feeling weak and clumsy and the things you cannot do when your back is acting up makes me so mad. Consequently both boxes only released half the bees, I found the tiny boxes with a queen in each and snuggled her in between two frames, (she has a cork door of candy that the bees will eat away as they get to know her) bees were flying everywhere, it is bee bedlum. So I decided to replace the tops on the hives and deal with the leftovers differently from the instructions.

The under cover of the hive has a hole in it  so I rested the boxes on top of this with the hole in the box above the hole into the hive. This way the bees walked into their own box at their own pace.  Then I left the bees to settle down and work out what they were going to do.

The dogs and I visited LuLu who is getting alarmingly fat. hmm. I kept walking because I wanted to keep the muscles in the back warm and loose. It is either flat my my back or walking – the in between bits get me into trouble.

We coaxed Queenie Wineti onto the grass with hay which quite defeated the purpose.  But she stood staring at the open gate ( a new gate in an old fence) and had no idea what she was meant to do.

And on our return we found that the bees were in fact walking gently down into the hive. Blue The Mouth discovered that bees are not for kissing. I was too slow for that photo. And getting on the ground for a shot had the problem of getting back up so I was staying high. I am so frustrated!

This is the magnolia in the daily view. Soon we will have flowers.

I foolishly sat my sore back down in the rocking chair and then could not get back up, I knew I should have kept moving. While I was waiting for help to arrive I shot the daily View from a slightly different angle.

Once I had been hauled up out of my chair the dogs and I returned to the hives and the boxes were almost empty. I gingerly put the boxes back on the ground next to the entrances so the last of the stragglers could make their way in and closed up the hives. Our garden will slowly come alive again now. I missed these guys.

In two weeks we will investigate to see if they have released heir queens successfully. Then we are back in business.  I hope.

Good morning. Daisy failed her once a day milking test. Her mastitis came back with a roar. So we will milk her twice a day (three times today to help her clear up) and she is allowed on the grass now. John is milking for me today. I have made the executive decision to push her morning milking time to 8am and her evening milking will go to later in the evening too. After dinner.  This will give me more morning and afternoon writing time.

You all have a lovely day. I will do a very slow walkabout the farmy today then remind me to add the bees to the Cast of Characters above. Now, I had better get busy. Though getting up from this chair is a worry. I hate this. This back had better fix itself smartly. I have no time for this kind of  rubbish. Pain I can cope with, not being able to do everything I want to do when I want to do it, makes me angry. I am a gate climber not a gate opener.

I will be better tomorrow.

your bent friend celi