1o of the x thousand new animals

Didn't get to count them when I picked them up Sunday night. So I am now an apiarist or perhaps even an apiculturist. To quote a certain Phil Chandler beekeepers are often thjought of as " harmless, doddery old men (mostly), who do strange things with wooden boxes full of bees, while dressed in sartorially suspect garb." Perfect match.

It all happened overnight but has been something I have wanted to do for years. A chance dog walk meeting with one of the local hunters who is also a beekeeper. Peter is of the breed that he tries his best to conserve nature as best he can in the environment we humans have created. For instance I think he is the only local hunter who will drag through the pastures the night before they get mowed to ensure no newly born deer are lying in the grass (quite common for them to be mowed as they don't move when danger comes). He started beekeeping as a teenager and now some 25 years later is still very keen to help interested people start. He is a "traditional" beekeeper but avoids the use of an synthetic chemicals.

Feel totally out of my depth at the moment, but once I get my safety gear this weekend, look forward to him teaching me. Bees seemed to have settled in & not reurned to their old home which was a danger as it isn't that far away.

Interesting that only the one bee almost in the middle of photo is covered with yellow pollen. No doubt I will Blip the theme again one day, by which time I will find out if I can enter them in the "Pets" category. (I now know insects are animals).