So to the special measures hive. The Bailey comb change is now nearly complete. We opened the hive and sure enough there were plentiful supplies of honey in the two old brood boxes which were so heavy we could barely lift them.

When we got down to the new brood box I was really happy to see that all of the brood frames had been drawn with comb, with lots of eggs laid and the queen present too. There were also some very pretty pollen stores.

Great news! We added a new super box, with frames and finally a crown board with bee escapes on them, followed by the old brood boxes on top. This will allow the bees from the old brood boxes to travel down into the new brood and super, but not go back up again, meaning we can remove the old brood boxes next time we inspect. Hopefully this will be the end of the bailey comb change and provide our first honey of the year!

As we finished, we turned around to see an enormous amount of bees in the air as the cluster in the tree disappeared. It was fascinating to watch the bees in the process of moving and see how quickly the swarm dissipated.

Back over to Chris' hives and underneath one, on the floor, we noticed another very small cluster. Unbelievably I once again found another queen, just mooching around underneath the hive on the floor. Again I quickly scooped her up and put her back into the hive. Chris will come to take a look over the next few days and see what to do next.

After packing up Elliot and I finished the visit to the farm by talking a walk over to the Sainfoin field which is now in full flower - truly a sight to behold - alive with bees!

Due to all the comings and goings at the hives, we’d been at the apiary all afternoon, in our bee suits in the blazing sunshine, and as I took my suit off I was dive-bombed and stung on my neck, just behind my ear. After several minutes had passed I began to feel very light-headed, and my face was swelling significantly (not a pretty sight). If I’m honest this was quite a scary experience. I’ve been stung before on other parts of the body and suffered no adverse effects so this was a shock. I felt very nauseous and passed out briefly. Elliot called an ambulance and the paramedics explained that the combination of heat stroke (dehydration) and bee venom in such a sensitive area can be dangerous, so my advice to fellow beekeepers is to stay as cool as possible on these warm summer days and make sure you drink plenty of water while working in the heat of the day. It’s common sense advice really but easily forgotten when you are concentrating on other things!