MOVING ON

I am now resigned to the fact that I have probably seen the last of my bees and hives etc which were stolen from Penmanshiel.
The site was particularly good, situated as it is alongside the main East Coast rail line, where it passes for several miles through natural woodland, open country and a considerable area where very little intensive agriculture is carried out. It is also fairly close to foothills where heather abounds. Consequently the forage for the bees was particularly good with a comparatively long series of nectar flows. Unfortunately it was also in full view of the A1. This may have been the reason that it was targeted by possibly an opportunist thief, who had noticed it whilst travelling the A1.
I am now making plans to re-establish my beekeeping activities.
Before the hives were stolen, I had already made an arrangement with a local farmer to place some hives in a quiet woodland area on the edge of my village. This was planned for next season. As I now have only one colony, this move will have to be placed on hold until I have made increase to my stock.
The new colony which Pat so kindly gave to me, is situated in an ideal setting but it is approximately 30 miles from home, so I am probably going to have to move it, or increase the number of colonies in this locality, otherwise travelling costs will far outweigh the advantages of its location. More decisions to make! Meanwhile I have visited this hive and fed the bees via an Ashworth feeder with 10 litres of sugar syrup to ensure sufficient stores to get them through the winter. I am keeping my fingers (and everything else) crossed that they survive until the spring when I hope to use this stock as the nucleus for my new colonies.
One of the things that I learned during a lifetime of beekeeping, is that you have to work with the seasons when dealing with bees. So spring time, when the bees start to stir in their nest and the queen resumes more active egg laying, will be the time to try to persuade the bees to agree to increase.
I am also considering the purchase of several packages of bees to introduce into new hives, although the price required by the bee breeders may curtail this option. Bee packages containing around three and a half pounds weight of bees and one queen were last season costing about £120. Quite an investment for what is now basically a hobby for me. Hopefully I may be able to acquire some stray swarms during May or June, although with so many colonies dieing out through so called colony collapse disorder, and general winter losses, swarms are now a much rarer phenomenon than they once were. The demand for bees may well outstrip the supply and costs will probably rise beyond this next year.
More soon.