Calm Before the Storm

Protecting the Livestock and Learning Another Bee Lesson.

Having checked the weather forecast (and looked out of the window where we noticed that the trees in our garden and the neighbours were bending almost to right angles in the wind) we confirmed the need for preventative measures.

The first job and the quickest, or so we thought, was moving the beehive further into the corner of the garden. So we strode down the garden, me in jeans and crocks and the boss in jeans and walking boots. The significance of Crocs (tm) is that they are washable plastic footwear. Famed for two things crocs are both utilitarian and hideous. They reduce pressure on knees, ankles and hips by up to 90% but in doing so are possibly the most unattractive footwear since the wooden clog. They do have the advantage of being completely washable so once covered in chicken poo they are easily restored by running under the outside tap.

Back to the bee hive the exchange went something like this. You should bear in mind my little adventure with the feeder a couple of weeks ago-. "should we suit up love?" "Nah Bob, Its a quick job, we're not opening the hive" "OK Katherine lets go and move it" 

So, to reduce the weight, we took off the lid and super but left the crown board in place. Then we lifted the hive. In seconds the quietly humming hive was surrounded by a cloud of furious bees wanting to know what the f$*k we were up to moving their home. "Er... Bob, I think I may have been stung?" while running "yes me too. My wrist hurts." "Its not my wrist the blooming thing is under my sweater. How on earth did it get there? It probably stung you through your clothes" 

Actually no. One stung me through my clothes. The other one had actually wangled it's way under my sweater and thermal vest. Running semi naked round the kitchen trying to find bicarbonate of soda and vinegar because I couldn't remember which to use for an increasingly painful sting in my side I finally pulled out one sting and found another embedded in my bra. I can tell you now that there are some places you really don't want to be stung. However if you are Bee stings are acidic so you need an alkali ie bicarbonate of soda to neutralise it. At a pinch soap will help but a thick bicarb paste takes the heat and pain out of a sting really quickly. I realised when I picked up my sweater from the floor that one of the bees which had stung me was still buzzing around in my clothing. Below, my sensible husband in his quick bee suit and veil.

I have now learned that I will never attempt any bee keeping tasks without the aid of a bee keeping suit.

Back to the job at hand. We suited up but decided that since we were not opening the hive we wouldn't smoke the bees down. It causes the fear of forest fires and since we'd already upset them we felt that we should just get it over with as quickly as possible. Hefting the hive we moved it (less than 3 feet) onto some bricks so we could move the breeze blocks closer to the wall. The point of this maneuver was to put the hive entrance closer to the brick wall which limits the amount of wind that can swirl in. It also potentially protects the hive from cold in the winter. We also put eight house bricks on top of the hive to prevent the roof from being blown off if things get really exciting. 

The next job was getting the water off the top of the hen run. When he built the structure he put the wire mesh on the inside so it would look better. This results in an attractive structure but when we put a tarpaulin on the top as an ad hoc rain protection the rectangles formed by the 2 by 2 inch timbers of the roof filled with rain water. Naturally, water and gravity being what they are the water had started to drip through in places. The only way to remove these puddles was to use polythene tubing and siphon it off. I ended up soaked as, since Bob did the ladder work I was at the bottom sucking the tubing to start the process. The hens supervised with amusement!

Next job was getting two huge sheets of plywood on top of the hen run and nailing it down in a high wind. Thankfully Bob managed to stay on the ladder long enough to get the nails in. Then we put a couple of tarpaulins over the ply and tied it to the wire mesh. We've also put a load of brick paviors on top of the tarps to make it more difficult for the wind to lift it. Of course when we wake up tomorrow and find the air still as a mill pond and an unseasonably warm sunny aspect we'll be delighted in the knowledge that we have another job under our belts for winter. I might grind my teeth just a bit.

The hens went to bed happy in clean warm bedding, we've filled up the hopper with clean water and they have a ready supply of layers pellets and grit. Their little domain is better protected and we'll sleep better too knowing that they wont have water dripping on them however inclement the weather gets. 

Sleep warm and snug

Katherine