Raymond had brought some cuttings of plants rich in food for bees - Lavendar, Rosemary & Honeysuckle I knew, but also Buckthorn (Bourdaine) which I didn't recognise - apparently it grows next to pine forests, especialy in humid areas, so there is probably lots near us.
We talked more about Asian hornets - by this time of year, the first hornets that the queen has looked after single handedly are now fully grown, but tend to be relatively small - future hornets through the summer will be larger, having had the benefit of multiple carers feeding them when in the larva stage. These will be more of a danger to bees, large enough to overcome them, and carry them off. Raymond therefore suggests keeping hornet traps topped up throughout the summer, and from the first of August using both a hornet strip to reduce the size of the entrance into the hive, and a wrap around mesh of at least 13mm to protect the ledge at the hive entrance.
We sampled some fresh pollen - much nicer than the dried stuff. Pollen collection should be limited to a few days or a week maximum per hive per year, to avoid over taxing the bees.
Raymond reminded us that when collecting honey, you can use the hive cover as a workspace, but you should place it the right way up on the ground, so that any honey drops are on the outside. When it is back in place, the bees will quickly clean up any spilt honey, whereas if you do it the otherway, you'll end up with sticky honey all over the inside of your hive.
In the bee hives, as the days shorten towards the end of summer, the number of eggs laid by the queen each day will reduce, so that as new bees hatch out, some cells are not used for brood, and therefore the worker bees will transfer honey from the top box to these empty cells in the body of the hive, in order to have food close by. Due to this, the honey available for collection in the top box can "disappear" suddenly at the begining of autumn! After the last honey harvest, it is advisable to treat the body of the hive for Varoa Mites, by hanging 2 specially prepared chemical strips between the frames.
Whilst we were talking, Jan was busy warming something up over a pan of boiling water. She was separating propolis from wax. Propolois is another product created by bees - created from various plant resins mixed with secretions, the bees use it to fill cracks in the hive, and it has antiseptic qualities. Jan saves scrapings from her hives in a large jar, and when she has enough, she either heats it, pouring off the melted wax, and creates a putty like substence, which she rolls and cuts into small pastilles, good for treating tooth ache or mouth ulcers, or steeps it in alcohol to make a medecine for sore throats !
I tasted one of the pastilles, it tasted a bit like bland chewing gum, but I felt my mouth tingling a bit, and can imagine it would anaethetise a mouth ulcer. 1 kg of propolis is worth about 60€.
After this we kitted up to check the hives. We moved three colonies from small "ruchettes" into full sized hives, and checked whether those with top boxes in place had sealed honey combs ready to be collected. Several did have frames nearly ready - so Raymond will return in a few days to collect the honey.
Random information for today - if you want a swarm of bees to enter your hive, pee on it ! apparently bees are attracted to the smell of urine! Not very practical, if you are a woman wearing a beesuit, and I'm not sure how many men would be willing to pee on a hive, with a swarm of bees nearby reputably attracted to urine ... if anyone has tested this theory, let me know - maybe it's just a myth !
Also - if you want to use honey to heal a wound, best use "raw", recently collected honey, that hasn't been industrially processed, honey that has never been heated or "pasturised" - apparently.
Finally, I ordered a swarm of Buckfast bees for spring next year - so I hve a few months before putting some of these theories into practise !