Queen Diana has now been with us for five days and we are all waiting with baited breath to see whether her subjects will accept her. The whole garden seems to sense the suspense; Paul's Himalayan Musk Rose has scampered high into the holly tree and is now opening his delicate puff-powder flower heads from all vantage points in an effort to be first with news from the hive.
The weather has been changeable and not particularly good for flying or gathering nectar. This suggests that many of the worker bees will have been at home for the last few days instead of being out and about as usual. This will make the going tough for Diana, until she can start to lay in safety and raise some of her own brood she will always be a step-mum to Cleo's brood!
We have chosen her name carefully, hoping that it will bestow upon her the qualities that she will need. Diana was a major Deity, one of the twelve Olympian Gods. Her symbols are the Cypress Tree and the Deer; she was revered as the protector of children. Her festival is called Nemoralia which was marked with a procession of torches and candles around the dark waters of Lake Nemi. The lake is often referred to as Diana's mirror as the torches together with the light of the moon reflect on the surface of the water.
We need a protector for Cleo's colony, hopefully she will have instilled in them some manners and the foresight to see that Diana is the key to their survival.
