What’s happening in the hive?
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Meet Cleo,
the Queen of Bluebell. Every hive needs a queen, ours has Cleo. She is the heart of our colony and the biggest bee in the hive. She is also the longest living bee in the colony, and if all goes well she will be with us for 3-5 years. Her main role is laying eggs, […]
“That buzzing-noise means something. You don’t get a buzzing-noise like that, just buzzing and buzzing, without it meaning something. If there’s a buzzing-noise, somebody’s making a buzzing noise, and the only reason for making a buzzing-noise that I know of is because you’re a……..
bee.”
― Winnie the Pooh, A.A. Milne
Hi! I’m Emma, a new beekeeper learning and figuring it out as I go.
I’m the human in this picture, in case you were wondering. After being gifted a beehive I have decided to get my own bees and document our escapades together. I am a complete novice and will be learning and sharing as I go. What could possibly go wrong?
At Bluebell Cottage I am joined by the dogs Purdey and Wicket, Sheldon the tortoise, Kath and Bill the ducks, Cleo my queen bee, worms in the wormery, bees in the hive, Gin and Tonic the frogs, and various birds, beasties, creepies and crawlies. Oh there is also the hairy Hooman, Martin, he is learning beekeeping from me. Well it seemed like a good idea at the time. Here you will learn with us, laugh at us, and hear about the adventures of the Bluebell Gang as well.
Recent Posts
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Bees | In the hive | Learning
Meet Cleo,
the Queen of Bluebell. Every hive needs a queen, ours has Cleo. She is the heart of our colony and the biggest bee in the hive. She is also the longest living bee in the colony, and if all goes well she will be with us for 3-5 years. Her main role is laying eggs, […]
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Fire, not smoke!
Another practical thing we did on the beekeeping course was learning how to light, and importantly keep lit, your smoker – a beekeeper’s best friend. I decided before my bees arrive I’d practise and it was probably a good job that I did. I collected my bits of cardboard, paper and dried bits of twig […]
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Bees in a Box…
How do you get the bees from their original colony into your hive? What the new beekeeping course didn’t prepare me for, suddenly being a beekeeper! Collection day has arrived, and I admit to having a few moments over the weekend where I thought ‘is this a good idea?, can I really look after these […]
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Glue, hammer and nails ready
A lovely clear sunny day, perfect for a bit of hive building. First on my list was the landing board or hive stand to sit underneath my hive and give my girls a nice ramp to take off and come home too. Most of the flat pack equipment that arrived in my birthday box had […]
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Is it my birthday soon?
When I told my family I was getting bees, my sisters first response was “oh at least we know what to buy you for your birthday”, little did they know. I quickly realised that whilst I had a hive I was missing several key bits of equipment and spent hours searching various suppliers to make […]
Meet the Bluebell Gang
Dogs, tortoise, ducks, bees and pond beasties all living at Bluebell