Finally, some Sunshine...
And over at Apiary Central this morning the honeybees are hard at it, foraging for all their worth.
It must be a big relief for them after being cooped up for the entirety of, what is surely, one of the rottenest Aprils on record.
Inside the hive, the last month has panned out something like this...
Worker 1: "Is it still raining?"
Worker 2: "I'll go and look."
Worker 2 trawls off to the entrance. A minute later she returns.
Worker 1: "Well?"
Worker 2: "It's still rainin' innit. And it's flippin' baltic... I hates England."
Worker 1: "Fancy some fondant?"
Worker 2: "OK."
They trudge off to further deplete their stores.
Meanwhile, back at Spike Towers, there's been a bit of shilly-shallying on the choice of hive in which to home the bees.
LandofSpike had always assumed that some version of the vertical hive would be the automatic choice, but an excellently informative session about hive types with BeeGuru1 presented him with a seemingly infinite variety of hives to choose from.
As well as the practicalities of the kit, choice of hive is also guided by philosophy. Oh yes.
Your approach, be it Traditional, Modern or Bio-dynamic, will directly inform which hives will be the best fit for where your head's at.
As well as the practicalities of the kit, choice of hive is also guided by philosophy. Oh yes.
Your approach, be it Traditional, Modern or Bio-dynamic, will directly inform which hives will be the best fit for where your head's at.
LandofSpike will cover hive types and philosophies in a later post but for now the best way forward was to keep an open mind and decide what might best suit the particular needs of our first year with bees.
Surprisingly, LandofSpike found himself increasingly favouring a simple, rectangular horizontal hive.
The Tanzanian Top Bar Hive to be precise.
It's, more or less, the modern day equivalent of a hollow log on legs with bees inside.
It's, more or less, the modern day equivalent of a hollow log on legs with bees inside.
A lovely piece of Biodynamic-friendly kit which would look just grand in the grounds of Spike Towers and would, no doubt, give the bees a lot of pleasure.
Despite my initial preconceptions this was starting to look like a real contender.
However, some time later that day and after more consultation, it transpired that the Tanzanian Top Bar Hive isn't sold in the UK.
There are plenty of excellently detailed plans telling you how to build one though.
LandofSpike can certainly build a box but isn't sure that he should be building his own bee-specific box in his novice year.
There are enough unknowns without adding "Good-Intentioned-But-Not-Quite-Right-Hive" to the list.
So it's back to a vertical model and, at the moment, even though those Thermo Hives look tasty, it looks like LandofSpike might go for an EPS Langstroth.
A nice, off the peg, cheerfully budget-conscious Beebox.
It seems to have the seal of approval from BeekeeperJuniors1&2, although they also liked the Thermo Hives and the Top Bar with equal enthusiasm.
And it'll require a lick of paint.
Just the thing to lure Mrs LandofSpike, the esteemed Colourist and Artist of Note, into the Land of Bees.
