Tulip.

Flower Friday, and I forgot that BikerBear has started giving her challenge a weekly “twist,” this week it is “Glass,” so I have failed again; though I’m not sure I would have risen to that particular test today even if I had thought about it in time. I find that Fridays are enough of a challenge already.

Not only was it shopping day, but there were bees needing assessment and bringing to heel at Newbattle; however, there was a rude shock when we arrived there. The Polis were called but were unable to fit us into their busy itinerary. Some yob(s) had cut through the chain link fence protecting(?) the apiary and pushed two of the largest hives over with such force that, although they started off eight feet apart, the various parts were in a jumbled heap. It wasn’t a pleasant task straightening them out, though not being familiar with them I am far from certain that portions of the two colonies and hives did not end up interchanged. Bees are very resilient and within fifteen minutes they were behaving as though nothing had happened and no serious damage seems to have been done. The worst that can have happened will be that the queen has been crushed, although that is not very likely, but the bees will be able to replace her having been set back by about four weeks due to the break in egg laying.
 
With luck, the culprit(s) will have received a severe stinging and won’t dare to come back again. If so, they can count themselves lucky, they could easily have been killed.