Wandlebury apiary

Wandlebury apiary
Date: 2007 July 12

Cambridge Natural History Society visits the apiary at Wandlebury, to see the bees, beehives, and learn a bit about bee-keeping. The Cambridge Beekeepers Association have their headquarters here, and it's where beginners learn the basics of looking after bees.

The visit was led by our own bee-keeping members, Toby Carter and Tina Tribe, assisted by some other members of the association. Once kitted out in our protective wellies and bee-suits, off we went to the hives.

Here Tina has removed one of the frames from a hive, while Toby brandishes his hive-tool, and assumes an expression of...

Toby's turn to pass one of the frames around. We were shown all the different kinds of cells in the comb - for storing honey, pollen, raising larvae, and no doubt some other things that I have forgotten.

My main memories of the visit were that while with any luck the beekeeper can persuade the bees to behave as desired, it's all a bit unpredictable, and seems to need lots of attention and knowledge to react to situations that arise.

And, as ably demonstrated by one of the girls shortly after the photo was taken, it's not a good idea to have hair that can cover your face, because when it inevitably does so, there's not much you can do about it while zipped into the suit, hat, and veil. She had to retire to the safety of a bee-proof tent to unzip and sort it out!

Soon it was time for us all to return to the shed for a further look at more of the equipment, and to enjoy a cup of tea and some honeycomb.