Soda Fountain

Again the bees have kept me busy today.

Removed the acid pads and gave them all some sugar fondant as a reward. One hive got the frames from the honey harvest two days ago which they will quickly clean them up and remove the last drops of honey that the centrifuge didn't manage to spin out. Should only take a day for them to complete the task and I can then store them for next year.

Being able to give them the old frames was more luck as I only had three blocks of fondant for four hives. Some beekeepers make their own sugar syrup concoctions, mixing normal supermarket white sugar with water 2:1 and place this in a "feeder". Actually quite simple but you need to make sure the bees don't drown - they are in most respects very talented but swimming is not one of their strengths. This liquid feeding is good when the weather prevents them from flying, the fondant is quick and easy but does require flying weather as they need to have access to water to dilute it.

This evening I set off to the local (17km away) beekeeping supply shop which is run by a family joinery business in the tiny hamlet of Eglofs. It seems the grandfather was a keen beekeeper and as a side business to the joinery, started making wooden beehives and then added a very small shop to sell other beekeeping items. I think they get them from one of the well-known Internet shops but they seem to have very competitive prices and I simply prefer using them. My first beehives came from their workshops and were excellently made and cost little more than the cheaper Internet shop ones and will last for generations. In fact, they seem to get more attractive with the years, getting a light grey patina after the mellow yellow they had when I got them new and coated the exterior with linseed oil.

Apart from the main season (Apr-July) when the shop is open on two extra half days, it is only open on Fridays and is also closed for the weeks in August when the joinery is closed. I thought today was their first day since the holidays but in fact, they were open last Friday. I did sympathise with the lady (owner's wife) in the shop about the dreadful conditions of employment, as it is standard for places to close for at least three weeks if not four.

Charming as ever, she put together all I wanted: the sugar, a bottle of formic acid (I need to do another treatment next week), some beekeepers smoking fuel, a bottle of Propolis Extract and as always had to bring Angie a small present, a tin of Propolis mints. As I paid, she mentioned the children had set up a "Lemonade Bar" outside and so I went over to get some refreshment - a cup of orange lemonade for 50 cents and I added a 20 cent tip for the excellent, friendly service and the beaming smiles. Business had not been too good as they had set up shop late in the afternoon and at this time of year, not too many beekeepers need supplies.

After a short chat about the impending start of school next week and my encouraging words to listen and learn well in their English class, Luna and I set off for a walk on the edge of the village. I knew the path we set off on which would have taken us down to the source of the Mindel river but a bit boring as it meant returning on exactly the same path. So Luna and I branched out into unknown areas and although it ended up being a bit longer than planned, we had a great walk in the forest and meadows and fields of the hilly area. See Extra Photos, the one showing the track shows in blue where I made a wrong guess and we had to double back and crawl under electric fences to get to the car.

It was a lovely 4km walk past at least four different herds of cows at least two of which had bells which competed with the sound of music from the village fest in the neighbouring village of Wiloffs. The fests are reaching their summit at the moment, two local ones this weekend and our village have its next weekend.  In the extra photo collage of cows and tracks, there is a scene of a wooden bench set against a barn in the middle of nowhere and sponsored by one of the local "Stammtisch" (Regular's Table), a weekly get-together by some group in a pub, this one called the "Hot Bolts" or perhaps "Hot Studs".  

When home saw that some WhatsApp photos had arrived from Ireland of the premiere opening of the family's pizza oven that son-in-law Barry had built. I had forgotten that son J who was Project Consultant had flown over from Sussex for the event and to see his creative project design realised. He gave the thumbs up. I wish I could be with them all this weekend although J would have enjoyed my walk if he had been here with his mountain bike.