On a wing and a prayer

To get this recorded first: The Blip is of the bee house at the Benedictine Basilica at Ottobeuren. Standing at the door Father Beda Lange OSB.

A few weeks ago my daughter Kate posted a photo on Facebook supporting the fox's right to roam where he liked, humans having taken over his territory. The very next day a fox visited her garden looking to help himself to one of her chickens. She was incensed, never before having had a fox in the garden and even more concerned that Facebook is passing on her Geodata to foxes who were not on her Friends List.

Yesterday I posted early and mentioned breeding, evolution and bees. Following that, I did a bee inspection and was confronted with two of my four colonies seemingly without queens and thus destined to die off.

Seems we both need to be careful about posting things!

By the time I finished, it was dark and too late to call my mentor MrB. All I could do was study the books that arrived this week.

This morning, I called MrB who luckily has a weeks holiday and told him of my plight. He had an immediate answer. Just this morning he had got a call from the beekeeping monk at the Ottobeuren Basilica, asking him if he wanted one or two "pedigree" queens. He agreed to take one but I don't think he really needed one, so my call was perfect. Having equipped me with a couple of bee cages, he sent me off to the Basilica to take his place at the arranged time.

Father Beda dressed in his beekeeping suit met me at the monastery entrance somewhat alarmed MrB was not there. He explained he was running behind and needed a pair of experienced hands to help him get the queens out of their mini hives into the cages. He was very troubled and I suggested I tried phoning MrB on my mobile to see if he could come. Just at that moment, a member of the public appeared, asking the way to the brewery! He was somewhat taken aback by the monk in a beekeeping suit talking to someone on the loudspeaker of a mobile phone through his protective veil!

MrB had taken the opportunity to take a trip elsewhere and could not come. I told Father Beda that although I was an absolute novice, I was educated by his Benedictine colleagues at a Somerset Abbey. That seemed to calm him a little so we set off for the bee house. He has to be careful as he is allergic to bee stings. I, on the other hand, was short sleeved and without any protective gear whatsoever. However, all went well. I had to handle the bees with my bare hands even at one point having to grab and hold a bee between my fingers, something I have never done before. Brushing them to one side with the back of one's hand is normal but even I gulped at grabbing one.  Luckily the strain of bees he breeds are generally known for being peaceful.

Having got the two queens that I needed into cages, we went back to the bee office/workroom and he completed all the paperwork. The queens have a pedigree - Ottobeuren Basilica raised and then sent to a site in the Alps at 1079m  (close to Bliper Tochter Pleach) to be mated with a special breed of drones. A virgin queen flies only once to mate and thereby has enough "supplies" to last 5 years (8 million sperm!)

Having a "pedigree" queen with a certificate (see Bee Journal) is a bit over the top (and of course costs a bit more) but speed was of the essence and these two having already been mated and laying eggs means they can get straight to work. The mating flight is one of the more dangerous points in a queens life. Raring one's own queens is a normal part of beekeeping and swarm control but relies on one being prepared, which I wasn't!

It was now 17:30 and Father Beda was somewhat agitated as he wanted to transfer another queen and against his instinct, kill another older queen who was performing badly and breeding somewhat aggressive bees. He again asked about MrB and somewhat agitated, looked at his watch. I jokingly asked if he had to be at vespers at 18:00 to which he replied - Yes! I said we now had the experience of working together and could give it a go saying he could explain arriving late to the Abbot by claiming he had been tied up getting a forlorn English son back into the flock. He liked that but of course, said he couldn't "misuse" me!

We returned to the hives and did the remaining work, I quickly took my Blip and with haste as it was 18:15, we parted our ways, Father Beda to vespers and me to get home before the approaching black clouds turned in to rain.

Back home popped each one, still in their cages, into a hive to let them get to know their new colonies. If all goes well, tomorrow I can start the process of letting them out and starting their work.

Naturally, the rain started just as I did this work and stopped when I finished five minutes later. Sadly 99% of the moisture evaporated by the time it hit the ground. Garden and fields need the rain very badly. Forest fire warning level is one away from the highest.