Bees

The Clapham Communiy Bee Project has provided 5 colonies for the village. We have been fortunate to be one of the selected sites to have a hive.

The bee group spent time on Thursday putting the hives together and making up the frames that go into the hives. It was quite a bit of work, but also a good social event.

Our colony arrived on Friday evening, and with help from Sue Manson and James Innerdale, who already have their own bees in the village, the new hive was set up and colony transferred successfully. It involved opening up the nuc (travelling) box and inspecting each frame carefully and then placing the frames into the new hive. A bee keeper is expected to find and identify the queen bee, which with as many as 10,000 bees can be difficult to do. Nevertheless, Sue spotted the queen, as well as a drone, so the colony is complete!

On inspection this morning, they look happy and the foraging bees are returning with pollen which is a good sign!