Today we picked up two new colonies from a beekeeper in Essex. He is a the third-generation beekeeper – but we did not meet him as he was delivering some other hives to the West Country.
The total round trip took five hours – and it was a hot day – but the bees travelled very well with a few sprays of water to keep them calm.
I put the two nucs into the apiary at about midday. As soon as the stoppers came out of the holes in the temporary nucs, a few bees came out and looked about. A few started flying. I feel a lot better now that the apiary has three hives again. We are going to name the hives Joy and Harmony.
Faith seemed to have a few eggs in the brood chamber when I inspected her – but still not sure if it is a queen-right colony.
Tomorrow I will put the five frames in each nuc into a brood chamber. Can’t wait!
Bee Lore 
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