Buzzzzz

A beeutiful autumn day.
Set off for a walk through Judy Woods. We wanted to see the trees in all their autumn glory before the wind blew the leaves away.
I also thought it would give me some great photo opportunities for my Blip.

However, as you know, sometimes a totally different blip opportunity happens.
So here is the bee keeper putting his bees away for the winter.

I haven’t noticed these hives before as they are hidden behind a wall.
The only reason I stopped to have a nosey this time, was because I could see some smoke, and a hood.
What a surprise!
Got chatting, as you do, and he said I could have a look in the hives as the bees were quite sleepy.
Unlike the summer bees which only live about 6 weeks, the winter bees live about 6 months.
There job is to keep the Queen warm during the winter.
They huddle round the Queen and generate heat by “ shivering “ their wings to keep the temperature to about 25C even when it is below freezing outside.
He was putting some raw sheep’s wool inside the top to help with some extra insulation.
Must say I found it fascinating.
They produce about 140 jars of honey a year, and of course we bought a jar. ( will have to go back later as I only had £2.50 in my pocket.)

So the autumn photos are now an extra, along with a photo of the jar of honey.

Hope you have all had an enjoyable Sunday too.