Detective work

More beekeeping intrigue. I went up to check on the colony that was being bothered by wasps. Although the wasps are too smart to be deceived by the device I fitted on the entrance, it does create a long tunnel (actually two tunnels) that have to be negotiated to gain entry. This works a bit like the spiral stairway to the castle keep: it gives an advantage to defenders, so I think it is helping

There is more going on than that though. The bees are much more animated and active than they were, and putting much more energy into their self-defence. On my last visit, I worked out (guessed) that they were hungry, despite the fact that I had offered them a copious quantity of sugar syrup. As a back-up, I gave them a block of fondant sugar, directly on top of the frames. They have eaten half of it, so now I'm sure that they were indeed starving, and the new energy source has restored their joie de vivre

They may not have taken the syrup because they were already too hungry, tired and dull-witted to work out how to get at it. They may have been deterred by the wasps, who definitely had worked out how to take it. It will be interesting to see if they go for it now that they are more vigorous

Tomorrow we will take a more detailed, frame-by-frame look at them and see what is going on in detail. I know that the queen, if she is still there, has stopped laying. This may be due to hunger, it may be due to the wasps (who may even have killed her) and it may be due the Varroa control treatment that is still on the hive - this can deter queens from laying. By watching the entrance, I noticed today that they are not bringing pollen back to the hive. That is not a good sign: if the queen was laying, I would expect them to be fetching some fresh pollen to feed the young larvae. We will mount a royal hunt

I lay in bed this morning thinking that I never take abstract photographs. Does this count, or is it too identifiable? 

The hedgehog (extra) left poo on the kitchen step. We are treating it as a compliment