All Around Success

The bees passed. The inspector couldn't find anything in any way suspicious, just a quick, comprehensive check through every frame, shaking the bees off and running an expert eye over the open brood. Being a busy woman at the end of a long, hot day, she was brisk and efficient in her handling of them, rattling through the hive much faster than I normally would. We had a larger cloud of somewhat alarmed bees flying around us than usual. When we returned to the car, one single worker came with us, and buzzed around us as we packed up, without actually trying to sting anyone - just letting us know that they prefer the usual approach, if that's OK. Message received

The inspector wanted us to pose for a picture beside the hive. Not because our bee-suits are a fashion item, but to provide scale. She gets a lot of push-back from beekeepers who are compelled to carry out the 'shook swarm' procedure that we were directed to apply to this colony eleven weeks ago. There is an expectation that - because it sacrifices all the brood in the hive, forces the bees to draw new comb, and the queen to repopulate it with eggs - the colony will be weakened and its productivity damaged. She wanted some counter-evidence and saw our tower of boxes as compelling. I don't think we get a medal

Speaking of which, I saw the ceremony for the womens' cycling team sprint - gold for UK (or 'team GB - how confusing), and the riders patriotically sang along with the national anthem. Emma Finucane definitely sang "God Save the Queen". You can tell she's been training hard

The new government faces a wave of co-ordinated, malicious rioting across the country, a generational crisis in the Middle East - almost certainly with an expectation of ordering military action, and a stock-market crash. Is this what they call 'the honeymoon period'?

The artichoke has struggled on for years. This is the best it can do, but it's still a collection of pleasing colours; an achievement