Sunset

Overnight news on Sepp was "of concern". He is being moved today to a normal ward yet we know his condition is less than good. Angie again phoned our local branch of Sepp's NHS insurer/provider and again they came up with some excellent help and advice. So she set off midday and as feared his condition was not good. Dialogue with the medical staff is breaking down and the family concerns about future treatment are being taken by the doctors to mean calling their competence in question with the reaction that they appear not to care less now and simply want him off the premises. So she came home less than happy.

While she was away, I at long last got around to inspecting my four beehives, the weather being perfect at a good 25°C. Slightly problematic at this time of the year is the low sun even at midday which made close inspection quite difficult especially when using 63-year-old eyes. Quite useful is a camera so that one can take a detailed look later. I did try using my mobile phone camera with some useful shots taken. As an extra just 9 shots from my one worrisome hive. Even though depleted and many would have been out flying, one can get an idea of how difficult it is to see the queen, a critical part of hive inspection. Luckily this hive's queen has a big blob of yellow paint on her head which makes it very easy. Apart from the close-up top left, she is also on two images on the bottom right. I have reduced all four hives to one box each of 12 wax frames. That means 24 images per hive and 96 images in total.

I have to now admit the hive where I had spotted unusual bees at the entrance have probably got Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus. I have relocated the hive away from the others am feeding liquid sugar and hoping that they can survive. The chances are very low. The causes are not known and research continues to try and find a cure. And of course, I hope the virus has not spread to any of the other hives.

Just before sunset hurried out with Luna for a very shortened walk as I needed to be home for a friend due to stop by and collect eggs which she takes to a kindergarten in Munich where she works - apparently the Mums can't get enough. As one can probably guess from the photo, the glorious weather is due to continue.

Later on, checked up on my son in Worthing using an App that records his bike rides and walks/jogs/runs. In well over a year, I don't ever recall him giving up to the weather. This evening he was out at 5:45 pm for a bike ride up on the South Downs but gave up the fight against "the monsoon rain". I deleted the expletives in his description!