EPICH Bees @ Clervaux

The Clervaux sitewis a very good location for bees, and our apiary was very well settled there for around 8 years to 2022. There is plenty of cover from strong winds and rain, Clow Beck is right next to the hives for easy access to water and plenty of rural land for them. Clervaux Garden School also benefited from the pollination the bees provided, there being an orchard immediately adjacent to the apiary, in addition to their many fields devoted to horticulture. Clervaux was fantastic with cooperation throughout our time there, but as the site was sometime difficult to reach through flooding, and the other activities of the school when the opportunity cam to mo ve into Hurworth in 2022 we took it.

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Prising the frames apart with the hive tool.		Inspecting the contents of the frames to see what the bees have been up to.		A bit of smoke to help calm the bees.
		"Break it up ladies".		They're really quite friendly and mostly just inquisitive.
The Queen bee is marked with a red dot on her back, the colour being dependant upon her date of birth. You can see how much bigger she is.
The Queen in another colony.		The location at Clearvaux is perfect.		Two polystyrene hives (polyhives) with a wooden hive in the background.
		A plastic mouse guard fitted to one of the polyhives.
A metal mouse guard pinned onto one of the wooden hives.