Me: 'Wow, that sounds amazing, yes, thank you. I am moving my hive back this weekend actually. Would it be OK to mo–' He cut me off again.
Steve: 'The code is 1897 for the lock, make sure you lock it up behind you, I am having a problem with gypsies at the moment.'
Before I could even say thank you and goodbye the window was being rolled up and he was accelerating at speed away from my standing position in a cloud of dust. I couldn't really work out what had just happened. Not only did he appear to confirm what most people had said about him in that he was rather curt and to the point, but he had also offered me an opportunity which was just unreal.
Most beekeepers dream of a site like this, wherever it may be, let alone just up the road. I couldn't believe my luck but, if truth be told, I also couldn't believe that I had never seen this orchard previously; it sounded huge. I had to get up there before I went to collect the hive.
SEPTEMBER 18
I am trying to do lots of reading about how to get the bees ready for winter which I understand to be a combination of disease prevention and feeding. Aside from lots of finger crossing from the beekeeper, the bees need stores which they can call upon in the darkest depths of winter until the spring comes along once more. Apparently one of the most nerve wracking moments for beekeepers is during the warmer days in spring when they look for activity around the hives. This will tell them whether their hives have survived the winter as you very rarely check them when the weather is cold.
There's not much else I can do at the moment, but it's going to start getting busy over the next few days as I prepare to extract some honey, whether from the super or the brood box, and move the hive back home again. However, this time I am moving them back to paradise. An orchard! What a lovely surprise that will be for them as they fly out the next morning… Actually, that is probably a lie as they are simply trees at the moment with no blossom. It's nice to think, though, that they will fly out, look at the trees, instantly recognise what they are and decide that this winter will be worth sticking out because spring will be a fantastic time with lots of blossom to be had.
Before going to get the hive tomorrow I wanted to go and have a look at where I was going to put the hive. I have never been near Steve's actual house before as it is rather imposing and the two great big Rottweilers outside, looking like they would eat my arm off should I even look at them, never gave me a good enough reason to go and say hello.
Therefore I got in the car, Sebastian by my side (thinking along the lines that if a man wouldn't hit another wearing glasses, dogs wouldn't eat an 'intruder' with a child) to make the small trip up to Steve's farm. I arrived and it was immediately apparent as I helped Sebastian out of the car that no one was there, not even the Rottweilers. The huge house, complete with now run-down outbuildings, was deserted in a rather eerie way. It must have been a huge operation at one point and from what I hear from Farmer Ray, it used to be a dairy farm; this may be where some of the confrontation lay, as it used to be Farmer Ray's home where he grew up. Now these outbuildings were all in terrible disrepair with fallen-in roofs, some of them covered in ivy. There were sounds similar to those you hear in Westerns or when you see disused airports in a desert and random mechanical sounds reverberate in the background. It really felt quite uncomfortable.
I crept up to what I thought was their front door and peered through the glass windows to see if I could see any signs of life. WOOF, WOOF, WOOF!! The two Rottweilers leaped up at the door with snarling teeth, snapping in front of me. As I jumped out of my skin, Sebastian, on top of my shoulders at this point, simply went, 'Hello doggy, nice to see you doggy.'
Having quickly left without so much as a 'Goodbye doggies', Sebastian and I went for a walk through the orchard. Most of it was behind the house, hence why I had never seen it before, but some of it touched the road where a huge embankment had blocked our view previously. It was like heaven, rows upon rows of beautiful fruit trees, probably planted three or four years ago looking at their size. There must have been at least a thousand of them and Sebastian and I just kept walking around looking at this wondrous sight. I cannot imagine how magnificent this must look in spring with all the blossom: it must be a sight to behold.
As we continued walking we came across two slightly smaller orchards, again filled with fruit trees, evidently planted at a similar time. It was just beautiful and I left satisfied, though a little bit worried about how this was going to pan out. I didn't know where Steve wanted me to put this hive therefore I rang him on his mobile and found he was in the pub. He said to pop up a little later, at about 8 p.m., and he would show me where he thought it would work best.