Nelly Moser.

Since Herself is not absolutely certain of the precise variety of this clematis, I stand no chance of a correct identification; however, it does look like the pictures in Wikipedia.

Much of the day was spent making a hive stand ready for moving the bees to a more permanent site. I'm not so much a joiner as a bodger, but the things I make tend to work quite well for all that. I do tend to simplify things to save time, after all, why cut a proper wood-working joint when a metal angle bracket will serve, the bees won't mind. The Old Man is probably turning in his grave right now; he did pride himself on his carpentry skills, even making some very respectable furniture for the family home.

Having the bees in the garden, albeit temporarily, is giving me much pleasure. I can pop out to watch their comings and goings and work out much of what is happening inside the hive without interfering. The floor is made of an open steel mesh, too fine to allow the passage of a bee but large enough for pests that loose their footing or pieces of hive debris to fall through. I put a tray underneath to see what appeared; there was a scattering of wax particles over the whole of the tray so that I know the bees are building wax comb throughout the hive rather than just in one corner - a sure sign that it is a vigorous colony with plenty of food, mostly supermarket sugar which helps them to build up strength rapidly, they've taken four kilos in five days. At night you can hear that the saying "As busy as a bee" is very true; there's a gentle but definite hum coming from them as they work away at the house-keeping. This afternoon, I noticed some of the foragers returning with their pollen baskets full, the queen has probably successfully mated since she's been here and is nearly ready to start laying. I'll take a peak inside at the week-end if the weather is o.k, nothing too intrusive but it would be nice to see the progress.

I've seen both neighbours affected to tell them that the bees are there, stressing that it's only temporary and their response has been one of disappointment; they like to watch the activity and their not as worried about the safety of their small grandchildren as I am and even Mrs TD is comfortable with them being there. The bees seem to like the little corner as well, nearby trees give them protection without dripping rain on them, it would appear to be an ideal emergency apiary which would be very useful.

Edit:  I'm a tad disappointed with the uploaded version of this shot; it has distinctly muddy highlights while the original has much more vibrant colours.