The garden has a hazel thicket at the north end, which should work well to keep the bees separate from the rest of the garden. So, to get things started, we’ve agreed to move the nucleus into a small clearing by the hazel so Joel and his family can see how they get on with them.
Last Saturday was moving day. so I waited until dusk (bees need to be moved after sunset), closed up the entrance block, applied liberal quantities of duct tape, and secured the nucleus with a ratchet strap:
Then I carried the nuc to the car, and hit my first snag - if I put it in the boot, there was too much space either side and it was likely to wobble, and probably fall over, once I started moving. So I ended up wedging it - very carefully - into the passenger footwell, and then set off on the short drive up to Joel's garden.
Joel and his family greeted me at the other end, eager to see the box of bees arriving. It was dark by this point, but fortunately Joel was better prepared that I was, and had a couple of head torches and a wheelbarrow standing by. We wheeled the nucleus to the other end of the garden, and placed it in the new spot that I'd prepared. Then, everybody else stood well back while I opened the entrance block. The bees were surprisingly well behaved (I always expect them to be in a bit of a mood after a trip in the car). A couple of guard bees flew out to let me know I wasn't welcome, but the others were happy enough staying inside until morning.
The next day, Joel was feeling brave enough to check out the front of the hive and sent me this photo:
Not much happening there, though he did update me later in the day to let me know that a lot more bees had started flying in and out, and checking out their new surroundings! So far, they seem to be settling in well, and - apart from maybe feeding them a few pints of sugar syrup - I can pretty much leave them alone until the spring.
As for the hives... well, it's very nearly harvest...
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