You may be wondering how life has been for an enthusiastic/obsessive new beekeeper such as myself without bees. Well, I have descended further into insanity over the last few months. On the back of a foraging book I have taken to eating the Spring leaves from hawthorn hedges and the flowers of wild garlic. Instead of talking with bees I have been engaging in long, primeval squealing and screeching with our baby girl. I think I am imitating her … but it’s been going on so long now that she might be imitating me. I must try “da-da” a bit more, but it’s not as fun.
However, this post is a bit of a teaser to my main news! I have an update on the bee situation. I’ll download some photos and blog it in the next few days.
It’s really cold here in the UK. The bees are still holding onto each others hands and feet in an effort to keep warm. Beekeepers are feeding their bees and having to be patient and wait a while longer for their first inspection. So I thought it was time for some Bank Holiday Monday, beekeeping comedy and I found the following sketch with John Cleese & Rowan Atkinson. I’d be interested to know how this humour translates around the world. Let me know. Enjoy!
Sounds like a sensationalist, tabloid headline, along the lines of “Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster” – but in this case it’s probably the truth.
“Read All About It”
You might remember that my apiary (which now consists of zero hives though did peak briefly at two hives last year) was part of the EU Honeybee Surveillance Programme. At my last inspection, I discovered all the bees had died, so I called the bee inspector and he wanted to come and have a look as part of the programme.
The Inside Scoop
The evidence points to Laying Workers killing my Queen. This is what probably happened:
There was no mated Queen in the hive for these two months and the Workers became Laying Workers
There was also a spotted drone brood in the hive at this last inspection, a sign there were probably Laying Worker. We also found some Dwarf Drones.
He took a sample of bees but thought disease was unlikely.
Opinion Piece
The inspector’s advice was that when you have the possibility of Laying Workers, chuck the bees in the hedge and the flying (non-laying) ones will find your other colony and boost numbers.
He confirmed I did not need to destroy the hive. The stores are not useful to me as they are tainted with Apiguard and are mostly sugar syrup that they converted. I will use these standard frames in my 14x12s as part of my Varroa Management.
Beekeeping Guides
None of my books mentioned the problems of Laying Workers when combining hives. I have been developing some Online How-To Guides and have updated the Combining Hives Guide, to include a warning to novice beekeepers of the problems of Laying Workers.
If you want to be kept up-to-date with my beekeeping exploits and guides, please subscribe.
Read More
An Inspector Calls (Visit 3 of 3) – I got some more bees and the bee inspector came for a third and final visit as part of the EU Programme
My cheap, point and shoot camera does a basic job but there are times when I would like to be able to publish some quality honeybee photos.
I would be very grateful if you emailed me quality photos you have taken. Crucially, the photos need to be yours and you need to give me the right to use them. If I do publish them, you will be credited and links provided to your blogs (if you have one) on a main Honeybee Photos page.
I am particularly looking for:
Queen (in hive, attended by workers, mating, killing another Queen)
Workers (hatching, in hive, looking after brood, flying, foraging, pollen on legs)
It was warm and sunny at the weekend and I wanted to quickly inspect the bees to see if there was any brood. On the off-chance there was no brood I was going to apply a late Oxalic Acid Treatment. As it turned out, there was no brood, but neither were there any bees. The video speaks for itself.
Post-mortem
So. My first colony of honeybees are dead. The frames were full of honey. There were a few dead bees on the frames, but most were on the floor. There were about 15 drone cells, some with brood in. My initial diagnosis, and my fear over the last 6 months, was lack of a mated Queen and hence no new bees. Other possibilities were too small a cluster resulting in them freezing to death, too high a Varroa count or disease.
My small apiary, which now consists of an empty hive, was part of the EU Honeybee Surveillance Programme so I called the Divisional Bee Inspector. He concurred with my thoughts but wanted to check them for any disease. He is coming on Friday. I will let you know of any diagnosis and also get more advice on what to do with them all.
Will I have to burn the hive or will it be good for a many more seasons. And can I eat all the honey in there? Should I be having such thoughts at this time and so quickly?
Dealing With Death
I was not as traumatised as one might have expected. I am disappointed that my first colony of bees did not survive the Winter. I am disappointed that on warm days like we have had this week I will not see my bees out and about. I did not beat myself up and over-analyse if I was a bad beekeeper. Rather, I looked to the future …
Starting Again
One of the good things about beekeeping, and Spring in general, is renewal. Colonies will start swarming in April and May and I will get the chance to start the process all over again … except this year, my second year, hopefully, I will be a bit better and a bit braver.
This is a guest post by Alice Whitley. Alice is a freelance writer who covers a variety of topics on the outdoors, nature preservation, and sustainability.
For people who enjoy natural environments, there are few things as rewarding as finding a hobby that involves the outdoors. The harmony of natural environments can only truly be realized and appreciated if you become part of it yourself, and this is the source of the appeal for activities such as beekeeping. However, for some people, beekeeping is a bit too time-consuming to be a realistic hobby or activity. In these cases, it might be a nice idea to turn to gardening – but, with an eye toward engaging with the environment a bit more. Instead of simply growing a selection of favourite plants, consider the following ways to inspire natural harmony between plants and creatures, and to enjoy your garden more thoroughly.
Bring In The Bees
As any beekeeper or nature enthusiast understands, nothing quite demonstrates the harmony of an environment in its natural state like the relationship between bees and flowers. Bees are fascinating creatures as it is, which is why people enjoy keeping them in colonies – however, again, if this proves to be too time consuming or demanding of a hobby, it is still possible to bring bees into your garden. The simplest way to do so is simply by heading to Marks and Spencer or the nearest gardening centre to pick up a few flowers known to be particularly appealing to bees. Sunflowers and marigolds are generally good selections, but there are many flowers that are likely to attract bees naturally to your garden.
flowers
Bring In The Birds
Similarly, you can seek to improve the natural feel of your garden, and enhance its ties to the environment, by attracting birds. The most common ways to do this are by keeping a birdhouse or two in the garden space, or by having a birdbath present. These elements in your garden not only provide props that make the garden more appealing, but also bring in a variety of birds, inviting more nature to your garden. Additionally, birds help to provide natural, harmonious control of pests that can harm your plants – which in turn saves you from having to introduce harmful pest control substances to the environment.
Make It Comfortable
Finally, once you have designed your garden space to be appealing to nature, it is also worthwhile to make it appealing to you. Many gardens are designed without any thought to people actually spending time in them – they are merely decorations in these instances. However, if you are focused on joining your garden with the surrounding environment as a hobby and practice, it is also important to provide places to spend time within the garden space. Whether it’s a single bench, or a partially enclosed gazebo, or even a simple walkway depending on the size of your garden, inviting a human presence is another aspect of creating a pleasant natural garden environment.
Roger – Thanks Alice.
If you liked this post you might be interested in my Bee-Friendly Plants page.
I last heard some activity about 3 weeks ago when I knocked on the side of the hive and heard a friendly buzz … but nothing recently.
I saw a flying honeybee a few days ago and went down to my hive, in hope, to observe … nothing.
I took off the mouse guard and had a look in … dead bees everywhere.
Despite being an optimist, I was 100% sure the colony was dead. I felt pretty gutted – I was not going to see any of my bees flying around on a warm February day. The hive wouldn’t be building up for the first nectar flow.
I went down on Saturday (2nd Feb) to record the devastation. And then to my surprise and delight …
Wooo hoooo. On a warm day I might see some bees come flying out. I cleared the entrance and some of the bees from the floor to give them a hand.
Still not sure if their is a Laying Queen or if they will survive the Winter. But they are alive today. This was the most bee-ing I had done since I Gave My New Queen A Good Home. I am looking forward to Spring.
PS. Do the bees carry out their dead or do I have to do it for them?
Crikey. This was to be my third hive. I’ll soon have to bump up my BBKA insurance! Hmmmm … and I’d better start making some honey. Or maybe I just shouldn’t blog for a few years and start writing again when I have made a year’s supply of honey, rather than appear to be the beekeeper with all the gear and no idea.
The good news is that I am much improved at building a flat pack beehive. Yes … the frames are not perfectly square, yes it wobbles, yes there are gaps and yes, the bodge hammer made a few appearances … but the gaps are smaller than a bee, and with a few kilos of honey, some weathering and propolis from the bees … it should be alright.
Flatpack beehive
Even though it has been eight months since I built the last hive, the subconscious is a wonderful thing. It keeps on learning even after the event. This time I anticipated problems. Before I applied hive glue, I hammered in nails, so that they had gone through one piece of wood and nearly ready to go into the next one. I punched holes through plastic rails using the larger nails. I was on fire! It only took me two hours to build the hive stand and open mesh floor. I think this demonstration of anticipation, is evidence that my Man Intelligence (MQ) has increased in the last year.
As my own workbench had no vice or “things” (also known as vice pegs or clamping dogs) to stop the pieces of wood slipping around, it was a bit tricky, but the garage wall helped. Ironically, pieces of wood are more slippery after the glue is applied rather than more sticky. It often felt like a two man (or person) job but I was going to do this by myself.
Slowly, I am dissolving away the idealist in me that would like to make perfect square hives that don’t rock, and who would like to know what is going on in the beehive. I am trying to become someone who is happy when it’s good enough.
I am not yet that person … “where’s the bodge hammer”??!!
I usually write about bees and beekeeping but in my journey to find the good life I’m considering chickens. I’ve written a page on UK chicken coops, but for American readers I’ll write a post on USA coops.
I have written a review of the Eglu by Omlet – a beautifully designed, plastic, assembled hive, which houses 4, 6 or 10 chickens.
Amazon is also a good source for value chicken coops. The leading brands often put their products on Amazon and sell at a discount. I have researched flat pack and assembled chicken coops and identified the following three represent good value (and the third one is beautiful but a bit more expensive):
Small Chicken Coop
Large Chicken Coop
Larger Chicken Coop
- 4 bird chicken coop
- Sliding access door for chickens to enter and exit
- Hinged roof for easy food / water access and egg extraction
- Removable metal sliding pan allows for easy cleaning access
- Flat pack, requires assembly
- Up to12 bird chicken coop
- Plastic with the benefits of insulation, weather resistance
- Easy assembly, no tools required
- Up to 15 bird chicken coop
- 6 nest boxes
- 2 roost bars
- Requires 2 people for an afternoon to assemble
If you want to read more about keeping chickens, the following book is popular and well reviewed:
No not this blog!!! That would be crazy. But from actually talking with bees.
Well, for starters, they have NOT helped me regain my sanity. In 2012 they made me more anxious than being a parent.
What I learnt about beekeeping:
It’s complex
It’s frustrating
Many beekeepers talk about giving it up (and have been doing so since the 1600’s)
Bees are lovely (but a bit scary)
Do your best but don’t expect a healthy hive producing lots of honey
What I personally learnt:
To do my best and worry less about the bees and life in general
For an office worker such as myself it’s good to do something practical and work with my hands and animals
Looking after bees makes me feel more connected to the world, to plants, to bumble bees, to the weather, to the farmers market (hopefully, in the future), to people, to community
I wanted to see how many beekeepers were serious about giving it up, so I have set up a Beekeepers Attitude Survey. The results are pouring in. Please vote.
The memories of Heidi going through six days of labour were still very fresh, but the memories of building my last flat pack hive had faded enough that I bought another one. So either I could pop round to Dad’s and borrow his Workmate … or, now I have a garage, I could buy my own workbench.
As soon as I had the idea to buy one I was very excited and however much I analysed my actual, functional need, there was little that was going to dampen my emotional desire to own a workbench. I had to buy one. Not a pop up one, but a permanent fixture.
A real man would chop down a tree and build their own, chunky workbench. I went online, did my research and bought a flat pack workbench for £78. I could justify £78. £10 functional value, £68 emotional value. (If you’re interested in this workbench follow these links: UK Link, USA Link).
I assembled the workbench in less than an hour. Most of this time was spent wrestling the top shelf into the frame, but what a friend calls “the bodge hammer” sorted it out with a few bangs.
Workbench
Now my workbench was assembled and a little damaged from my efforts, my sister asked what I was going to do with it? I repeated the mantra that “every man needs a work bench”. But she persisted and asked “what for”? “I needed it”. “What for”? “To build my flat pack hive”. “And then what”? Errrrmmmm.
The truth is I want to be the type of man who has a workbench. The type of man who goes in his garage and bangs away with other people fearing the development in progress and comes out proudly holding a box of no particular use. I want my garage door to be the equivalent of a wardrobe door that takes me to a DIY Narnia where I am King. I want to sometimes leave my garage door open so elderly neighbours walking past can see my shiny but well used tools. I want my workbench to shout, he knows stuff, he makes stuff, and he can show Nick Knowles what to do with his wrench!
After buying the workbench, I was feeling newly masculated until I went to an NCT (National Childbirth Trust) house party. I was given a tour to discover that the Man Of The House had a Harley Davidson in his garage …
If you liked this post and want to know where the manliness anxieties started, you might like to read I Am Not A Beeman.
Combining two hives but in the process I think a Virgin Queen killed a Laying Queen (not sure)
Preparing myself for the death of the colony over the next few months due to a possible lack of Queen
I have spent most of the year dealing with the unknown, dealing with uncertainty, dealing with nature. And as someone who likes some certainty and a plan, this has challenged me.
It has more driven me more crazy than brought me peace. But hopefully, 2012 has been about learning; learning about the bees and learning a bit about myself. Hopefully I will be able to apply some of what I have learnt in 2013.
I was surprised when I started beekeeping, how many beekeepers were frustrated and fed up with it. Fed up with the effort, fed up with the bad weather, fed up with all the bee mites and parasites. But history records that beekeepers have been planning to give up beekeeping since at least the 1600’s due to the challenges of beekeeping and the weather; and there is hope for the future. There are efforts to select more hygenic bees which are better able to live with varroa. There is more information about beekeeping good practice. And the weather, surely cannot be as bad as 2012. (OK – it probably can).
So, with this in mind I thought it would be interesting to run a Quarterly Attitude Survey to see how people are feeling about beekeeping as the seasons progress. Is the first quarter of 2013 to be the Beekeeping Winter Of Discontent or Winter Of Hope?
Please vote in the survey below and encourage your beekeeping mates to do the same. I’ll write up some conclusions and keep running the quarterly surveys.
What is your attitude to beekeeping at the start of 2013?
A. Negative - I am planning to give up (1%, 1 Votes)
B. Neutral - I will see how it goes this year (6%, 7 Votes)
C. Positive - I find it very frustrating but will continue (12%, 13 Votes)
D. Very positive - I love it and plan to continue for the rest of my life (81%, 89 Votes)
Total Voters: 110
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I am most likely to stop beekeeping, because:
A. Generally it's too frustrating and too much effort (2%, 2 Votes)
B. Varroa and other baddies take the fun out of it (10%, 9 Votes)
C. The weather is not good for the bees (2%, 2 Votes)
D. My colonies got wiped out (8%, 7 Votes)
E. I am not producing much honey (3%, 3 Votes)
F. My back is now aching (4%, 4 Votes)
G. It's too expensive (2%, 2 Votes)
H. My bees keep swarming and annoying neighbours (2%, 2 Votes)
I. I am allergic to bees (3%, 3 Votes)
J. Nothing could put me off (55%, 51 Votes)
K. Other (please comment below) (8%, 7 Votes)
Total Voters: 92
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What is the single most important reason you enjoy beekeeping?
A. I am a commercial beekeeper and it makes money (3%, 3 Votes)
B. I love honey (1%, 1 Votes)
C. I like working with bees (48%, 48 Votes)
D. It connects me to nature and grounds me (26%, 26 Votes)
E. The challenge - I don't like to give up or be beaten (12%, 12 Votes)
F. I want to save the planet (4%, 4 Votes)
G. It gets me out of the house (2%, 2 Votes)
H. Other (please comment below) (3%, 3 Votes)
Total Voters: 99
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How many years have you been a beekeeper?
A. 1 year (21%, 22 Votes)
B. 2-5 years (45%, 46 Votes)
C. 6-10 years (10%, 10 Votes)
D. 11+ years (24%, 25 Votes)
Total Voters: 103
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Any further thoughts or feedback on the survey, the questions or the results, then please comment below and I’ll aim to improve on this first attempt.
If you want to receive future posts and conclusions of this survey, you might want to subscribe. Or before you subscribe, you might want to check out some of the posts such as The Honey Jubilee – But Where’s My Queen.
Whilst Queen bees can easily bang out up to 2,000 eggs a day … this is not the case for humans. In fact, at times on the day of the birth, it seemed like humans were not designed for natural childbirth. I will spare you the details, but I finally broke down when I was ushered out of the operating theatre for Heidi’s c-section. Three minutes later a nurse came out and told me mother and baby Senen were fine. It took me another 15 minutes to man-up and we are both still getting over the experience. Next time we’re booking in for an elective cesarean!
We’ve had a few questions about the name, so in anticipation of further questions … There is a place we like in Cornwall called Sennen Cove and about two years ago Heidi thought it would make a great name for a child, boy or girl. We looked it up in the baby name dictionary and there was a Senen, meaning “wise boy”, an Irish name. We reckoned it could also mean “wise girl”. We made a token effort looking through the rest of the name book, but our hearts were already set.
I took two weeks paternity which was the best holiday ever and at the end of this found the time to go and visit the bees and tell them the news. One of the guard bees seemed particularly interested and I had to run away.
Postscript: For an update on how I am getting on you might like to read On Being A Dad.
Bee update
I have not had much time to think about bees in the last six weeks. There were quite a few flying in and out on Sunday when it was about 12C … but I still don’t know whether there is a Queen in there. I might not know, until it’s warm enough to open it up in the Spring.
I am planning based on the scenario that these is a Queen and will phone a friend to discuss sugar fondant and oxalic acid.
Christmas present
As a Christmas present to myself I bought another flat-pack beehive (14×12 brood box, 2 supers, roof, floor, stand). It will take me about 16 hours to assemble but will keep me entertained during the dark Winter nights, especially as Senen should soon start having a bed time at 7.30pm.
So this my third hive … just need to catch a swarm … or better still, hope that someone brings me one in a cardboard box … and if they want to tip them in … please go ahead … they are scary those bees!
Just a quick update on the bees: they took down 14Kg of sugar in October, so that should help them through the winter. On my last inspection I could not find the new Queen even though she was marked. There were 43 varroa on the board over 9 days and this calculates at 660-1,300 varroa in the hive – too many. There’s not much I can do now. Oxalic acid in Dec/Jan and hope there’s a Queen in there. I need to get better at this.
However, I am finding some other ways of regaining my sanity. I saw a bloke picking some berries and asked him what they were. He explained they were sloes. I have tried my friends sloe gin in the past, so thought I would give it a go. Heidi and I picked 1kg of sloes at the weekend and made some sloe gin. Recipe: 750ml gin, 500g sloes, 340g sugar. Have to resist drinking it for 3 months. Using the liquer as an ingredient in crumble and mixing the left over fruit with dark chocolate sound like good ideas too. (Nat – do you have any sloe gin cocktail recipes you can share!)
I have also really enjoyed gardening (now that I have a garden for the first time in my life). It’s a lot less stressful than beekeeping. I planted some honeysuckle at the weekend.
I would love to hear summaries of your 2012 bee experiences. Have I been a terrible beekeeper (possibly losing both my colonies even before Winter), or has my experience been common this year?
You might not hear anything from me for a while. Heidi is due on 18 November.
The Queen Bee Man called me back. He had a spare Queen and he just wanted her to have a “Good Home”. Crikey, what a responsibility.
The words “Good Home” were ringing in my ears as I drove to near Bath to collect this Queen.
We had a chat and then headed towards his hives. He had 2 here and 8 others dotted around. It seems that having 10 hives in a variety of locations is not good for ones sanity. Here was another beekeeper with 20 years experience whose hobby had become a bit too much. He was doing beekeeping stuff every day. It seems that having 3-4 hives in a nearby allotment will be about the right level.
As we approached his 2 hives plus nucleus he showed me his wasp trap. There was an enormous European hornet in it like the one in the photo below.
He opened the nuc with bare hands and within seconds he found the Queen, marked and clipped her. The instructional video clip below is pretty much what happened, except he used scissors rather than clippers.
He gave me the Queen inside a Queen cage. I popped her in my shirt pocket and off we went.
I wanted to treat her well and give her a “Good Home”, so I started by turning down the volume of Sunday Love Songs (Radio 2). She was suffering enough disruption for one day.
When we got to my hive I popped some grass into the end of the Queen cage – apparently it will take the bees about 4 days to get through the grass and in the meantime they will get used to her pheromones.
I carefully placed the Queen cage in the centre of the hive and closed up.
Hopefully she won’t get bullied, beaten-up or killed by my worker bees. Hopefully, they will accept her. Hopefully, they are all getting on just fine and singing “Home, Sweet Home”. I’ll check in a couple of weeks on a warm day.
PS. They have now eaten all 12Kg of sugar and I have just given them another 2Kg (in a sugar syrup). Can you feed bees too much? Will they leave room for the Queen to lay eggs?
It is a lovely day here and I have just been to visit my one remaining colony hoping to find evidence of a laying Queen.
Well, I now know what frames are meant to feel like that are full of honey, as the bees have so far taken down about 10Kg of the sugar I have been feeding them. I’m not sure what my bees have been living on all Summer.
Due to the weight and my lack of strength, it was a struggle to hold the frames high with the sun behind me as I looked for eggs and larvae. I could see neither. This leads to the following possible scenarios:
There is no Queen
There is an unfertilised Queen
There is a fertilised Queen but she’s not laying at the moment
I have left a message with a local Queen maker. So hopefully he has a spare one and then I’ll have to learn how to re-queen a hive. I am a bit worried that if it is scenario 2, the unfertilised/resident Queen will kill a new Queen. I’ll discuss this with the Queen Bee Man.
My brain went into overdrive trying to understand a complex problem of why there was no brood or eggs (see previous post). With only my novice understanding I had to phone a couple of beekeeper friends and posted the situation on a forum.
Possibilities (most likely to least likely):
After I harvested the honey the bees were left with no/little stores and the Queen stopped laying as there was not food for the eggs (other beekeepers have reported similar events)
The Apiguard stopped the Queen laying
The Apiguard made the bees destroy their own brood
The Queen was killed during the last inspection 3.5 weeks ago
When I combined the hives, there was a Virgin Queen in the weak colony (hence, no brood) and she killed my laying Queen in the strong brood box, leaving me with the Virgin Queen
I would have fed the bees earlier, but I needed to use the Apiguard. It was a case of what was going to kill them first: Varroa or starvation … or me?
Plan:
Keep feeding the bees as much as they need
Inspect in a weeks time to check for eggs and if there aren’t any buy a Queen
I made some sugar syrup this morning: 2kg of sugar mixed with 1200ml of water, heated gently. Delicious. Tasted as sweet as Coke. My girls were going to love it and having harvested their honey a few weeks ago this was the least I could do for them. Like any healthy relationship, it’s a balance of give and take.
I was looking forward to the morning inspection with the same thrill as date night. I was not anticipating any problems or hard conversations, just good times. I had removed the newspaper a week ago (due to combining hives) and had witnessed loads of bees toing and froing – 10 a second were shooting out at some stages. I had more bees in this hive than at the height of Summer. Some might say this is too little, too late … but having a strong colony going into Winter is positive.
The result of today’s bee date:
There were 10 bees in the top (weak) brood box – so that was easy to remove. Good.
About 10 drones dying above the Queen excluder – so I helped the bees and got rid of them. Good.
Strong brood box full of bees – every frame teaming. Good.
I am still not using smoke and the bees are amazingly gentle – no stinging, no aggressiveness – it feels like they know and trust me. Good.
No capped brood, larvae or eggs – eek! I was not expecting that. BAD. VERY BAD. Crikey – was another colony going to die on me?
This is when beekeeping can be a headache. You just want to enjoy the bees. You don’t want problems. Just good times. But as the saying goes “The course of true love never did run smooth”. I guess the principle is that real relationships have real problems. And that there is something more fulfilling in having to work through problems.
But the truth is I much prefer “plug n’ play” and auto-setup than fiddling around at the back of the television, phoning help-desks and seeing relationship councillors.
I first heard about the “Conversations With Bees” project via an email from the Bristol Beekeepers Association and since then I have seen articles and adverts in the honeybee press. In essence, they (Brunel University, The Honey Project, researchers, designers, do-gooders and young-media-trendy-types) are looking for beekeepers to engage in a conversation about honeybees and a collaboration in designing a beehive. I am not quite sure what is in it for them and I was even less sure what was in it for me but it felt like a worthwhile and interesting project to respond to.
Their covering letter is fill of social media jargon which didn’t make sense to me. “The principal aim of the project is to research the environment of beekeeping from an ethnographic standpoint … We are examining the effectiveness of currently available digital and fabrication technologies for the potential of creating a mini-revolution in user-led open design and the ways in which products and services are designed and consumed.” After reading two more pages along these lines I was still none the wiser but luckily the actual questionnaire was fun and included amusing cartoons which was akin to my sensibilities.
The questions have an emphasis on stimulating our imagination through considering what we would like the bees to be able to tell us and how we would use sensors inside and outside the hive (touch, smell, sight, sound, taste). I saw this project as an opportunity to unleash my madness and put down every crazy idea I have had about beehives. It also made for another reason not to build flat packs (due to the housemove).
This is the advert I saw and has their contact details:
Postscript: I am now conducting Beekeeping Surveys. What is your attitude to beekeeping? Please vote.
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