Stupid Mistake

After the honey harvest a few days ago, MrB gave me the spun out combs to store over winter and then, in spring, set them in the hives. During the harvest most of the comb wax cell structure is maintained and saves the bees the tedious task of having to start from scratch. In order to make a kilo of wax, bees need to consume 8 kilos of honey, meaning less honey for my jars!

MrB had told me to keep them cool and dry and not let them get hot or moist. From the car boot, I had quickly put them in a closed trailer until such time as I found proper closed boxes and a suitable place, safe from things like ants, wax moths etc. This morning noticed they were getting too much of the wonderful sunshine, moving them to the back door, ready to take them indoors when I had cleared a space. Lunch, coffee, garden task later I went past the back door greeted by a loud buzzing sound. The bees had discovered the boxes and were building a new hive! Donned the gear and managed to correct my foolish mistake.

Annoying as they had managed to start depositing honey in that short time. I had hoped they may just be stealing the minute honey remains but of course, the combs were their home just a few days ago!