Plans, and how they change

Delightfully, we had a heatwave this weekend.  Which meant good weather for the two tasks I had set myself this Saturday:

1. Do some groundwork at the apiary, to make it a bit safer, and also put down a new slab for my stack of spare boxes.
2. Look inside the hives!

First task - the groundwork.  The site is on quite a steep slope, and this can make moving around a bit tricky sometimes - especially if carrying supers (the boxes that contain the honey frames) back and forth.  So, I wanted to dig some "steps" behind the hives, to give myself some level ground to walk on.  Also, I wanted to move the stack of spare boxes, which were located just behind and to the left of Miriam's hive.  The problem was that, being so close to the hives, the bees had a tendency to fly into the spare boxes whenever I had taken the roof off (e.g. if I was grabbing a super to put onto one of the hives).  Playing "hunt the bee" could get tedious, and I didn't want to leave the poor thing trapped inside after I put the roof back on.

So, I picked a sheltered spot over on the right-hand-side of the apiary, away from the hives, which needed some additional soil so I could level it off for the slab.  Easy - I can dig out the soil from behind the hives to give myself some level ground, and move the soil I've dug out over to the right, for the slab.  But there's no room for a wheelbarrow, so I'm going to have to do it one spadeful at a time...

Some time later: all the soil moved, a bed of sharp sand for the slab, slab down, check with a spirit level - all good.  Then move the stack of spares to their new location:

Yes, I'm happy with that.  So, I now have a spare slab over on the left, which I can use for something - but not anything that will contain frames of comb.  No problem - I have these things, which I move over to the spare slab:

These are for a project that I have planned later in the year - I will explain more next week!

So, back home for a shower (bees don't like the smell of sweat), and then back to the hives to take a look inside.  Well, that was the plan, but it didn't work out like that - the skies darkened, and heavy raindrops began to fall.  I can't open up the hives while it's raining, so I decide on plan B, and go home to listen to the rugby.  In fairness, the rain stopped before the second half, so I could have gone back to see the bees.  But then Bath started winning!

I can open up the hives tomorrow...