The Afternoon of Life
I turned 50 last month and never posted anything. I had a good party and caught a swarm of bees on the day!
I came across this piece by Carl Jung which somehow encourages me that there is still more to learn, uncover and grow towards in the “afternoon of life”:
“Wholly unprepared, we embark upon the second half of life . . . we take the step into the afternoon of life; worse still we take this step with the false assumption that our truths and ideals will serve as before. But we cannot live the afternoon of life according to the program of life’s morning — for what was great in the morning will be little at evening, and what in the morning was true will at evening have become a lie.”
The Bee in Heraldry
I have always been fascinated in Heraldry – ever since I was sent away to a boarding school in Windsor. Every Sunday during termtime we had to go to the Chapel of St George in Windsor Castle to sit through two services – Mattins and Evensong. I was not a chorister. I was a “super” which, in Latin means “extra”. A bit like a drone, really. The only thing to look at in the Chapel were the shields and banners of the Knights of the Garter that hung on the walls. Very romantic. So many colours, patterns, symbols. This combined with the beautiful singing had a very calming effect. Even now, if I want to relax, I will listen to medieval choral music.
It is probably not so surprising that:
The bee is the most popular insect in Heraldry
The bee is normally shown with an old-style beehive – as shown on the shield above.
More at: http://www.heraldryandcrests.com/heraldic_symbols.htm
The Beehive in Masonic Tradition
The Beehive….is an emblem of industry, and recommends the practice of that virtue to all created beings, from the highest seraph in heaven to the lowest reptile of the dust. It teaches us that, as we come into the world rational and intelligent beings, so we should ever be industrious ones; never sitting down contented while our fellow-creatures around us are in want, when it is in our power to relieve them without inconvenience to ourselves.
When we take a survey of nature, we view man, in his infancy, more helpless and indigent than the brute creation; he lies languishing for days, months, and years, totally incapable of providing sustenance for himself, of guarding against the attack of the wild beasts of the forest, or sheltering himself from the in-clemencies of the weather.
It might have pleased the great Creator of heaven and earth to have made man independent of all other beings; but, as dependence is one of the strongest bonds of society, mankind were made dependent on each other for protection and security, as they thereby enjoy better opportunities of fulfilling the duties of reciprocal love and friendship.
Thus was man formed for social and active life, the noblest part of the work of God; and he that will so demean himself as not to be endeavouring to add to the common stock of knowledge and understanding, may be deemed a Drone In the Hive of Nature, a useless member of society, and unworthy of our protection as Masons.
More at: www.philbrick2255.org.uk/books/broached_thurnell.pdf
How to Write “Bee” in Chinese Symbols
I came across this video on the internet. Wow, for a simple English word “bee” the way of describing it in the Chinese symbols is so artistic. There are two words, each with a picture and a word to pronounce.
None of the character actually looks like a bee.
Think I will stick to English for the moment!
More at: http://www.ehow.com/video_4403826_write-bee-chinese-symbols.html
Lightning never strikes twice in the same place…..but swarms do!
On Sunday, I got a very unexpected email and phone call! It was from the man who told me about the last swarm that I caught (see the blog entry about catching a swarm in 15 minutes). He had another smaller swarm (which turned out to be a cast). And it was in EXACTLY THE SAME PLACE!
I went round on early Monday morning and scooped the cast into a box. It was raining and the bees clung to each other like treacle. Because I had done it before – and the bees were so accessible, I think this time it took even less than 15 minutes! Probably more like 10!
Anyway, Monday was a rainy day and that evening we returned to pick up the nucleus box.
This morning, I met up with an old friend and gave her the cast as her (only) hive had gone queenless. When she put the cast into her hive (she has a Dartington Long Hive with two sides to it) – she found that the colony was no longer queenless but that the queen has started laying. Oh well!
How to catch a swarm of bees in 15 minutes!
The other night I was rung by a local who had a swarm of bees just outside his house in a newly planted Hawthorne Tree. Trouble was that I was going up to London half an hour later! So I only had about 15 minutes to catch the swarm. But I gave it a go.
When I arrived, the swarm was beautiful – quite large and very settled! Here is a picture of it:
It was about 17.00 when I started this. If it had been 20.00 it might not have been as effective.
I put a large sheet on the ground under the tree and then held a nucleus box made from plywood with four frames of foundation under the bottom of the swarm. I sprayed the bees with water and with my right hand I gently swept the hanging bees into the box. About half fell in – including, I suspect, the Queen. There were a few bees on the ground which I gently put into the box. The lid then went on the box.
I asked the owner for a chair and put the box on the chair with the sheet between the box and chair so that the bees could climb up the sheet into the box.
I finally shook the tree about twice to get the final bees off the tree and into the air.
Whole process took 15 minutes. When I rang the owner of the tree at 18.00 and most of the swarm was in the box.
At 08.00 the next morning, I picked up the box and took it back to the apiary. Very successful! Five swarms in May with still a few more days of sun that might produce another one or two!
I find the most useful equipment for catching a swarm is:
a) a plywood nucleus box with about 4 frames (not six) so there is a bit more space if you are going to knock the bees into the box
b) a sheet from a double bed that can go on the ground so you can see where the bees have dropped – as well as giving the bees something to climb up into the box if they are too weak to fly.
c) a chair or stool to put the swarm on (if you can’t put the box back on top of where the bees where originally)
d) a water sprayer (optional) – I used water this time and liked it as the bees get less stressed with water than if you use smoke.
Lifecycle of the Honeybee
A great video on YouTube that gives the Lifecycle of the Honeybee:
White Cuttlefish sited in Apple Tree!
When visiting the apiary yesterday I noticed a beautiful white cobweb glistening in an apple tree about 10 metres from the hives. As I drew closer, I saw it had a cuttlefish-like structure.
On closer inspection it turned out to be a piece of pure white honeycomb – about 5 inches long by 4 inches wide that had obviously been drawn out by one of the swarms from the apiary earlier in the month. It was not the yellow comb you get in older hives. It had no pollen, honey and certainly no sign of the darkened cells you get from the queen laying eggs.
It was quite beautiful. Pure virgin white. I took it home and put it on pride of place on the mantlepiece! I wonder if it will go yellow over time?
Seven Foot Long Swarm!
I was rung by the local police yesterday to say that a seven foot long swarm had settled in someone’s apple tree – and could I collect it! I was out at the time – and asked that the woman who had rung me get in touch.
In the end I had to ring the police back to get the details and decided to go and catch the swarm with onlly an hour of daylight left.
When I arrived, the swarm was normal size – but 15 ft up in the tree – and the owner only had a 9 foot ladder. So I had to ask for a soft brush and swept the swarm onto a sheet on the ground.
It was so dark by the time I left, I am not sure whether or not I got the queen. Anyway, it just shows how information can be mis-translated! Anyone who has actually seen a seven foot long swarm please let me know!
Are British Black Bees part of the Answer?
The bees in the first swarm that I caught last week were very black. Noticeably different from the brown and black stripes on most of the honey bees I have kept so far. So the article below encouraged me:
From The Daily Telegraph
By Ian Johnston
Published: 7:00AM BST 18 May 2009
Britain could be saved from the devastating effects of a collapse in its bee population by turning to a native British species, which is more aggressive and hairier than the southern European honeybees favoured by apiarists.
One in three hives were lost over the last winter alone for reasons that are not clearly understood although bad weather, the use of insecticides, a lack of wildflowers and the varroa mite, which has spread rapidly since arriving in Britain in 1992, are thought to be partly to blame.
However, the majority of the bees in Britain’s 274,000 hives are actually a subspecies which originated in southern and eastern Europe.
New research has found the native black honeybee could be better able to survive any external threats as it is better equipped to deal with the British weather.
A study by the Bee Improvement and Bee Breeders’ Association (BIBBA), backed by The Co-Operative supermarket, found the black honeybees’ thick hair and larger body helped them to keep warm and cope with the shorter breeding season in Britain.
Paul Monaghan, the Co-operative’s head of social goals, said the supermarket was taking the bee crisis seriously and asked the public to report sightings of the species so more research could be carried out.
“The hardy native black honeybee has had a bad press over the years, but it may hold the key to reversing the decline in the UK’s honeybee population,” he said.
“There are isolated populations of the native black bee dotted around the country and we want to help BIBBA to confirm these and map these populations.
“We would also like to help to develop a breeding programme that would increase the number of native colonies and hopefully help reduce the losses experienced in recent years.”
You can also listen to a radio programme from the BBC’s Farming Today channel: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00kcprd
