Bees!

Last night, I went and picked up a nucleus of bees. A nucleus has a newly mated queen, and several frames of brood and workers. It is in essence an artificial swarm.
Once I got them home, the nucleus was put on top of the hive and the bit of sponge blocking the entrance hole removed. Later today, provided the weather is fine, I will place the bees in their new hive, give a feed of sugar syrup (1:1 sugar and water) and then leave them to it.
Hopefully there will be a small bit of honey in the autumn.
But having bees in the garden again means the off kilter feeling that I have had since March vanished. There is just something about a beehive and the hum of a hive. I have also missed telling the bees various important events.

Donna asked about Tess & Hardy mischief while I was out. They decided to go hyper chasing each other round and round and playing Exocet puppy in the living room. It ended when Hardy decided to nip my husband's finger. They were both sent to bed. The pantry door was left open and Hardy discovered how to get into the shoe basket and capture my going out into the garden shoes. These were carefully carried to the bed.
Yesterday, they were lovely and behaved impeccably, coming into my study and sleeping. This morning however, it has been back to puppy racing. No picture as blogger upload is being strange.