Examination

I received a lot of supervision during today's hive inspection. Last year the cattle were more laissez-faire, but I was amused to find that I got exactly the same scrutiny two years ago to the day

Today they were bemused by my erratic behaviour. The contrast between the day's searing brightness (viz the picture's bleached background) and the leafy shade around the hive made it very difficult to see into the wax cells and check for eggs, healthy larvae and wellbeing. I was reduced to shaking most of the bees from some of the frames, running the gamut of the management committee and making my way back to the roadside to find sunshine to illuminate the depths, then returning past the same sceptical inquisition

Eventually, they formed their opinions and began to drift away. A small sub-committee remained to debate whether such an inept beekeeper should be permitted such a dignified hat. No clear judgement was made: one was in favour, one against, the third wanted to eat the hat

1001 thank you for all the good wishes and good will yesterday. Everyone says blip is a kind place, but that's because it is