Passing down the tricks of the trade

Saturday was finally a little drier, and having been to check the honey bee colony at a friends house, where I noticed some discarded offcuts of wood, I suggested to Steve, that while Sam was spending his regular Saturday afternoon with his grandparents, this may be a good time to teach BB how to use a few tools.

I have a honey bee colony in a nuc box in the garden, and now that winter approaches I'd like to get it up and out of draughts. I wanted to be able to place it at a decent height, not just for the bees but also for my back! The stand needed to fit a normal size hive as well as a nuc, and be extremely sturdy.

 

Whilst Dad got all the tools together, BB gave his bike a quick (hrmph, under protests!) clean.

But he nevertheless got his back stuck into it, and sawed and sawed! However, having had a sleep-over at a friends house the night before and got to sleep later than usual, he wasn't exactly full of energy, and took frequent breaks. During these breaks Steve got a few extra screws in the pergola currently under construction. He eventually finished the hive stand, and it's awaiting a coat of preservative to match the hive colour.

I cracked on too and got the greenhouse in tiptop shape in preparation for winter. Even though it's been quite wet and the garden's like a quagmire, it was mild and Zaf had a great time running around (making the quag even more mire-ish!). I gave him a bone to chew hoping to keep him occupied whilst we got on with our work, but he soon devoured it.

Meanwhile Harvey was out in his large run and enjoyed jumping around, whilst Zaf chased around his enclosure!

I gave him some hazel twigs, which he happily started to nibble at.

Later, while the rain pounded down outside (maintaining our quagmire...!), we had a helping of grub from our local Chinese take-away, some chocolate and a big family cuddle on the sofa whilst watching the film 'Mr Deeds'!

I hope your weekend was good too....