Today there is huge excitement at Valley Garden Paradise, this morning our newly hatched Queen Bee, Ishtar, flew in through the patio doors on her maiden flight. Over the past month our hive has been busy moulding Queen cells in a bid to supersede the reigning Queen, Epona; a tense situation for a bee-keeper! The mysteries of our delightful winged friends never cease to fascinate, they are deeply knowing of all that occurs in their environs, making this encounter all the more humbling. Patience will now be required for a week as we wait to check the hive for signs that she has mated successfully with her suitors and started laying in the nursery.
This is our second home-reared queen in a week, Hathor, is now laying happily in our smaller hive.
Added to all this excitement, the bees have allowed us to take 33b of honey from the hive, which was safely extracted and bottled within twenty four hours of leaving the hive, nature's alchemy in a jar...
