Oh, Bee-have.

… or a tale in which Adrian has insects raining down on his head.

After a mad, mad 60 hour working week, delayed flights and a generally too-hectic spell away from France, we were sat at home, small glass of Lambic in hand and watching the alternately funny/grisly movie “In Bruges”. A brief few hours later and a turn of events re-grounds me instantly with a reconnect with all that is good about Bellebouche.

Knock at the door.

” Are you the man with the bees ?”

me: “Yes!”

” Monsieur Such and Such? ”

Me “…erm, No?”

“ok, sorry to bother you…”

WAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIT.

Our new neighbours, who’ve only moved in two months ago, had an early summer swarm up in an Apple tree!

Not a giant one, but certainly 15,000-20,000 bees.

Joan, keeping a safe distance, was taking photos yet apparently forgetting to use the zoom functionality of the camera!

I was providing ballast and holding the ladder down whilst fellow beekeeper Monsieur Apiculteur was up the scaffold cutting down the branch with the bees.

Standing under the ladder with about a thousand bees raining down on my visor was a little disconcerting but remembering my reference books advice that bees that have swarmed are all stuffed full of honey and in no mood to sting.

Over to a Ruchette or little baby hive that has just five empty old frames in it. One resounding whack and the swarm falls to a piece of newspaper laid at the foot of the hive.

INSTANTLY, the bees smell the old wax and start their march indoors, led by the newly mated queen.

Those bees with their bums in the air are fanning a message scent to all the other bees that are still flying around. The message is “COME HERE NOW, WE HAVE AN AWESOME NEW HOME!”.

I’ll go and get it about 10:30 this evening, by this time the bees that are out scouting about for a new home will all return to this spot and they should have settled in for the night.

Off to the bee shop tomorrow to buy a new hive. I used to have a hive, I’ll now have an Apiary. YAY!

Dangerous stuff though, in conversation with Monsieur Apiculteur, whilst we were working together, I asked him how many hives he had.

“One hundred”

Are you a professional?

“No, just a hobby”

How much honey did you harvest last year?

“2,200 Kg – it’s a big hobby”.

And to think, I was chuffed at my 18kg.