Peaks & City Takeover, Foraging walk & Beekeeping session
Following the thrilling Nature Network talks, films and adventures of Friday and Saturday, the Beekeepers teamed up with Student Eats to do a foraging walk on Sunday. This was fantastically run and allowed us to have a cheeky taste of wild garlic. We then charged up to the beehives and allotments where we had a check of the bees and planted some trees.
After donning the bee suite, the first hive was opened to check the general health of the bees, primarily if the queen was present and active. One way to see disease is through deformities in the wings, but was thankfully not seen. However, the queen was not very active and in fact did not move through the entirety of the inspection, raising concern… Hopefully in later inspections things will pick up and she was just a bit chilly.
The other hive was then investigated, with a swarm of student eats folks gathering around to have a look, although at a distance to avoid any unwanted stings. Following a brief introduction the hive was opened, and to our delight the bees seemed to be doing well. There were no signs of disease and the queen was happily buzzing around, with a large collection of worker bees meaning she is happily laying eggs. During the inspection a brief introduction to beekeeping was given, elucidating to how the brood box is the queen’s home and where eggs are laid, a queen excluder sits above this to prevent her from entering the super box, but still allowing worker bees to enter as they are significantly smaller, this causes honey to be stored and means can be harvested from here. Photos were taken by the swarm of people, with one brave person coming up to hold a frame without any protection and thankfully managing to avoid any stings.
This was an exciting end to the weekend activities before the delicious buffet and cake at the closing event.
Words by Joseph Earley, president of the Beekeeping Society (@SephEarley)
Photograph by Luke Nelson, president of Birdwatching Society (@LDSNelson32)