The main job today was to finally change the floors of the traditional hive, having put it off for weeks. I had concocted a plan over a rather strong coffee this morning and had now got everything ready. Equipment was lined up beside the hive like I was preparing for major surgery. Smoker lit, hive tool ready and screwdriver in hand ready to unscrew and detach the old floor.
I unscrewed the metal joints holding the floor and brood box together and then smoked the entrance. Slowly I lifted the complete hive off the stand and placed it on the floor beside me. A few of the bees were flying around but it was OK so far and they didn't seem too rattled.
I placed the open-mesh floor on the hive stand and started to tease apart the hive and closed floor beside me. This was all in readiness to lift the hive back onto the stand. This was the bit I was afraid of because essentially I was taking the floor away from their home. Imagine the human equivalent of this and seeing the floor of your house disappear while some grubby gloved fingers gripped the walls to lift the whole thing up in the air. It would be a little unnerving but here I was doing it to probably 20,000 bees.
I had only lifted the hive a couple of inches off the old floor when it happened. My first sting followed quickly by my second, third and fourth.
Initially I thought I had been stung by the nettles around the hive. There were short stabs of pain around my ankle. As I continued to manoeuvre the hive it dawned on me what was happening. I put the hive down on the floor a lot more carefully than I thought I would have done considering this new development. However, the thought of dropping a complete hive and annoying the whole colony was simply not an option.
I bent down and tried to flick the bees off from around my sock area but realised very quickly that using a hive tool in a swinging action close to the major arteries of my foot wasn't the best plan. Therefore I resorted to the fingers and quickly dispersed the stinging insects. Reviewing the situation now I had been pretty stupid. Not only had I put the entrance of the hive right by my ankles but in order to prevent bees from crawling up my trouser leg I had done the other fashionable thing of tucking my trousers into my socks. Not only did I look really cool but I left an open invitation for them to attack my ankles. Silly, isn't it – by trying to stop bees crawling up my leg I had left my ankle exposed. Maybe next year I need to either buy a full suit or purchase some welly boots.
All in all it was over very quickly and I have to say I was quite glad that I have now been stung, especially as I wasn't expecting it. I figured my hand or fingers would get stung first. At least I know what the feeling is like and I can be doubly pleased that I didn't get stung in the eye. The stings hurt far less than I had expected and there doesn't seem to be any swelling so that must be a good thing.
Anyway, all done and the hive was now on its correct floor but despite being stung I now needed to carry out the inspection on the Beehaus.
Fresh from the confidence I had gained in spotting the marked queen yesterday in the nucleus, I found the unmarked queen today! Even though I had seen them in the practice sessions I am still amazed at how big they are.
Having done a few inspections now, I have to say with every opening of the hive my nervousness abates ever so slightly and I am feeling a little bit more comfortable around the bees. Being stung earlier has helped as well; as arguably nothing can be much worse than being stung four times, aside from being stung five times I suppose.
As I was working through the hive I started to realise that I was viewing each frame differently from past inspections. It was almost as if I had a checklist going on in my head. On each frame I started by checking if there were any larvae, which gave me the confidence that I had a queen. I then moved on to whether I could see stores and any signs of disease. Finally I would just check the bees to see if I could see the queen as I scanned the frame left to right and top to bottom. After the third frame I realised I was doing this instinctively and again it made me think how enjoyable the experience actually is. It was, however, the time that I also realised how hot it was inside the bee suit. I may as well have simply wrapped myself up in a dustbin bag and stood in the sun. I was baking and I could feel sweat droplets dripping onto my nose.
Anyway, the queen was found, the hive floors changed and I left a very happy novice beekeeper. This was especially the case as I put on the honey super as well. I felt that the brood box was sufficiently full to chance my luck. Hopefully this will incentivise them to move upwards, build some frames and pop in some lovely golden honey. Perhaps this will go some way to obtaining the jar of honey I so crave this year.