A shrinking hive

This week I am grateful for the support of our local top bar group. Here is a brief report on the current situation. Its been a fascinating week.

My bluebell hive has been shrinking during the winter at a rate that was unsustainable. The poor bees were badly hit with varroa when their beekeeper (me) was late with starting treatment. They seemed to recover and then the wasps arrived. By the time I noticed the wasps the hive had been robbed of honey. I set wasps traps and started feeding. The hive started shrinking and didn't recover.

Friday the 26th(last week) I did a full inspection and found one lovely queen and about 100 workers. eeeeek, panic! not enough bees.

I received various offers and advice and took Tricia up on her kind offer of 2 combs of brood which we took from her hive on Sunday. That was quite an adventure as her bees were not happy with us. What a wonderfully vigorous colony. 

Back here in Eastbourne I had prepared my bluebell hive by completely enclosing the colony and putting newspaper between the colony and the space where I would place Tricia's bees. 

I left her bees in my Nuc box overnight - they were very noisy. Monday morning they were placed in the hive and allowed to forage, by the afternoon they were giving off that contented hummmm that queen-right bees do, so I was confident they had smelt the queen. 

Wednesday: I checked the sugar water feed and the newspaper. No food eaten and the newspaper was intact. I placed a few slits in the newspaper to facilitate integration.

Today(Friday): I did a full hive inspection. There was no apparent integration of the two colonies. With bad weather on the way I decided today was the day to integrate. I removed the newspaper separator and puffed all the bees with icing sugar while I searched for the queen. I had forgotten to put on my glasses so I went back inside (with hive open) to get glasses. I returned, wearing my glasses and proceeded to inspect every comb for the queen. No queen. I was feeling very sad then I noticed clumps of bees on the top/side of the hive. Sure enough the queen was in the throng, they looked angry to me (!?) I puffed them all with icing sugar and her attendants started grooming her. I scooped her and attendants up and placed on an empty comb. She appeared to be laying eggs and she was accompanied by around 8 bees grooming and feeding her. Fascinating to watch. She didn't look in such good condition as last Friday. 

Meanwhile back on one of the other combs a supercedure cell was half built. 

What next? I am going to leave them for a week then check again. I am expecting one of the following scenarios:

• the queen is laying and strong and there will be larva - great
• the queen has been laying and there is a larva in the supercedure cell - I'm ok with that, will leave them to manage the rest
• the queen is present but no larva present - I feed warm sugar water
• the queen is gone/died - no future for the colony, very sad
• something else I haven't thought of but the bees are planning now!

There is honey and sugar water in the hive. 

Lessons learned:

• start varroa treatment early February
• put wasp traps out in Feb/March
• act earlier with shrinking hives
• always inspect over the hive…. imagine if the queen had dropped off onto the grass instead of the top of the hive
• always wear my reading glasses or have them handy for hive inspections

I'll let you know what transpires. 

Making lists

We've got another trip coming up and I feel compelled to put up another list. I had 3 weeks in Canada last year but the only thing I blogged about was the list of gear I took!

We start our motorcycle tour of the south island on Monday.  

VTR is for sale

It's been in our family for 18 months, a benevolent teacher for our sons and a commuter for Andrew. On the weekend I listed the VTR on trademe. It's like preparing to say goodbye to a friend which is very weird, this propensity I have to personify motorbikes I have ridden.
Here's the link http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?permanent=0&id=326908910

One hour to go!

Its torture, with just one hour until we leave for the airport. Andrew is very relaxed playing World of Warcraft while I try to keep busy. I am very anxious to be on my way, I love the journey and am looking forward to whatever adventures may come along.
The planning and the packing are one of my favourite things, along with the anticipation comes the pleasure of getting everything I need into one suitcase. Even though I travel with one of the smaller, 55cm, cases I always take too much stuff. What does that say about how we collect "things" and "stuff" around us.  Motorcycle trips are similar because there is only so much you can take on a bike.
Whats in the suitcase?

• sleeping bag for camping
• travel hairdryer
• 1 pair jeans
• 1 pair hiking pants
• 1 skirt
• 2 pairs sandals, 1 dressy & 1 hiking
• raincoat
• underwear and socks
• togs & travel towel
• complete set of merinos for hiking/canoeing
• 3 t-shirts
• toilet bag
• stuff for Alan & Kallan (mostly sweets)
• crochet hooks, scissors, needles

and in my cabin bag:

• laptop
• iPad
• iPhone
• cords & connectors for above
• wool & plastic crochet hooks
• passport (ha! got it)
• tickety wickety
• sweets & almonds
• glasses
• wool
• empty bottle for water

Alan has set of already to Toronto where him & Kallan will stay overnight and spend the day sightseeing before they pick me up.

11 sleeps to go

Last night the booking was made and in just 11 sleeps I will be going to see Alan. He is in Kingston, Ontario - there are some mean looking motorbike shops on Ontario and lots of places to hire a Harley!
Being away for 3 weeks means working while I am away, unless I want to come back to an horrendous backlog of work that is. The logistics of any number of our team working remotely at any time are interesting.
We are not one of those companies that shunts you around with voice messages when you call. We are very proud of the feedback we get from customers about our friendliness, responsiveness and that we answer the phone. Here's what we do.
The team mainly talk to each other by Skype when working remotely.
We have two team meetings, called scrums, each week via Skype video calling.
The phone line has call transfer on it so we can transfer any incoming customer call to the person they want to speak to.
Working from Ontario looks very do-able. The next step is to manage the costs as I have read stories in the press about some poor sucker that got a bill for thousands while overseas working, I don't want to be that person.
Right, now where was that Honda shop in Toronto?

The Aftermath

Three months on from my crash at Manfeild. The summer is fading and the shed has a space where my motorbike should stand. Time to meet my next bike.
Whats it to be? Replace my darling baby blade with another (can there be another so sweet to ride?) or go for the same motor in another guise - a naked bike? - a Hornet?
So, if God looked down and said "Audrey, you can only ever ride in one place forever", I'd choose the track and my CBR600RR. If I want to get out and have fun with hubby, who likes the open road, wind in his face and a bed of grass (well, tent nylon) at the end of the day then maybe a Hornet will do both the open road and the track.  If anyone has the direct comparison and has ridden both I'd be keen to hear what you think?
Ok, Ive been waiting to build up the cash reserves too. Crashing on the track means a hefty excess of $2,500 along with new helmet. Oldest son sold me his 250cc Honda before going abroad and doting mother that I am, I bought a lemon. I nearly turned it into marmelade in a ride over the Tuka's but with a few parts and the loving care of the wizards at Motomart it will soon be a gem , hopefully sold and a gem in someone elses crown. Then, with a pocket full of cash (only a small pocket) I will be looking for a great deal and a sweet bike.

Dance Battle in Wellington

Awesome dance battles in Wellington this evening - these guys were truly amazing.

Why have I posted this photo? Apart from this being the first time I've seen a dance battle, it has been a most welcome diversion from the reality of having my bike listed on Trademe. There is pain but maybe it is time to tell the story....

it ends here
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=272122877