Great Responsibility

We split our new bee colony to stop it swarming in May. The poor summer made that, in hindsight, a bad idea and neither colony prospered through the damp summer. One lost its queen and we imposed a new head of state with a varroa sensitive queen from Northumberland Bees. The other lagged and, eventually, we decided to join the two colonies back together. Feed feed feed said everyone, so we gave the ladies two litres of sugar syrup which is a kilo of sugar. It was gone in a day. Our efforts to make sure that the bees didn't drown in their feeder turned out to be overkill. Now they shove their heads into the liquid as we pour it into the hive, drinking from the stream like children in a fountain on a hot summer day. We'll have no honey this year, but the ladies are heading into winter with a full hive and full bellies.