Into the hive

Today we had a big tidy up in the garden and a nice visit from Ian, our mentor bee keeper who talked to us all about our bees and the amazing way in which they work. He explained how if you lose your queen bee, another one will soon be chosen, so its not something to worry about. Another great fact he shared was the way that the bees communicate to each other. They really do perform the bee dance to let their fellow workers know where the best flowers are. They dance around in a figure of eight style and dictate through angles which way to fly on leaving the hive to find lots of tasty pollen. In addition to this they vibrate and wiggle at a certain rate which indicates the distance at which the flowers are located in relation to the hive. That's pretty amazing directional advice and all through the medium of dance!

The garden getting a good tidying. We cut so much grass we could have made hay!

 The queen bee herself Jan, checking the frames for Queenie

Bees working away in a Ian's demonstration glass window frame

Watching and learning

A whole lot of bees, buzz buzz