2024 Cliffe Castle Bee Blog #2
Ruby Wax and her daughters have returned to the Cliffe Castle Observation Hive for the new season, just in time for the Easter weekend.
I transferred the bees on their frames from the winter hive, at our ABKA apiary, to a double poly nucleus box for their journey on Wednesday 27 March in the evening. Early on Thursday morning, Steve and I collected them and took them back to Cliffe Castle and placed them safely in the Observation Hive.
In the video below, you can see Julie taking a quick peek at the colony, the week before they were due to move.
There are four frames of brood, several frames of stores and some empty frames of drawn comb, so that Ruby has space to lay more eggs. The colony had some quiet time to settle in when the museum was closed on Good Friday, but from Saturday 30 March you will be able to see the bees every day the museum is open, until the autumn.
Watch out for days when Airedale Beekeepers will be by the hive, to help explain what’s happening and answer any questions. Do pop by and say hello!
Linda