B-Minus

It's been a tense few weeks of being patient and preparing ourselves for failure.

After Janet's visit at the end of July it was great to have the distraction of a week salmon fishing in Scotland.  The bees were left to do what the birds and the bees do and hopefully re queen by our return.

We escaped for a lunch break with the bees on Friday 9 August, Janet dashed up to meet us, having experienced her own war against nature; wasps who are making a nuisance of themselves and bees robbing honey from her other bee hives.  We lit the smoker and confidently bathed the bees in a gentle plume, however, things soon got a bit uncomfortable.  Bees were bumping our veils and John's gloves were being hammered by bee stings, fortunately none finding their way through.  We puffed in plenty of smoke to continue our inspection and though we couldn't spot a queen there was evidence of brood.  Verdict: Hive 1 either has no queen or an 'angry bitch' quotes Janet.  Hive 2 was a little calmer with plenty of brood and pollen.  It's a waiting game.

Two weeks later and John and I decide to brave our own independent inspection.  We have decided our purpose: to check for brood, hopefully spot a queen, replace a brood box which is split, add dummy boards at each end for winter warmth and insert entrance blocks so the bees can defend themselves better from wasps.

We set off in Hive 1 ready to cut and run if we are ambushed.  However, the bees seem relatively un-phased by our presence - surely this must be a good sign?  Slowly John lifts each frame while I scribe what he sees.  Every so often we think we have spotted the queen but then accept we've been fooled by a drone (male) bee.  We see plenty of brood, larvae, honey capped and uncapped and an exciting moment watching a newly hatched bee emerge from a cell.  

In Hive 2 the future is looking even brighter and the top supers feel quite heavy.  Hopefully we haven't blundered about too much while replacing the split brood box where the queen is most likely being protected by her worker bees.

Despite our 'schoolboy errors' we're feeling quite upbeat and very deserving of a cup of tea and a chocolate beetroot bun!

Bee fact 1: A smoker should be used sparingly, smoke doesn't calm the bees, when bees smell smoke their natural instinct is to prepare to flee.  In the wild smoke would only mean one thing….  Fire!  They immediately start to gorge themselves with honey. If they find they have to leave their nest and relocate to somewhere safer they will then have sufficient reserves to tide them over until their new nest is located and set up.  

Plan B!

I received a lovely email from Janet yesterday and immediately sent her back a virtual hug!  Wouldn't it be great to have this step by step advice during certain times of having teenagers?

"Hope yesterday wasn't too daunting with all the bees, you're both doing really well under difficult circumstances, and I noticed how calm you appeared to be when handling the bees.  Many people would have refused to go into such a large hive.

Anyway because I threw a lot of info at you I thought if a did an action plan for the next few weeks it would give you an idea of how to tackle things

1.  Leave the bees alone until you come back from holiday except for watching the entrance for bees bringing back pollen.  If you go into them too much at this stage of them rearing a new queen you may cause her to abscond.

2.  When you return let me know and I'll come up and help you go through them again.  By then you should have new queens in both hives.  If not we have to check for laying workers, but the bees know what they're doing in spite of us beekeepers!!  We will need to mark the queens if we can find them (won't be easy in the big hive) so it will be easier for you to see them when you’re doing your own manipulations. We also need to check their supplies; I suspect there won't be much honey as the swarm will have taken half.  In addition we'll put varroa test trays underneath to monitor the daily mite drop.

3. If food supplies are low you will need to feed the bees in time for them to process it before the weather turns cooler otherwise the syrup will ferment or crystallise and could cause the bees to have dysentery through the winter months when they can't get out.

4. If varroa treatment is needed it needs to be done before the temperature drops below 14 C

5. The equipment you will need to have ready in case we need it is as follows:

• Feeders - one for each hive  (the round plastic ones are good and fit over the hole in the crown board)
• Empty super box - one for each hive to fit the feeders in.
• Varroa test trays - one for each hive ( National size) - you may have got one with the hive you bought
• Varroa treatment - Apiguard or Api Life VAR are good. Two packs are needed for each hive to complete one treatment - Thymol based
• Api eke -  one for each hive.  This is similar to a super but much smaller - about 2 - 3" high which gives space for the Apiguard treatment.  Easy to make yourselves.  The Api Life Var treatment sits on top of the frames in the brood boxes so no eke needed.

This is winter preparation - the start of the beekeepers year!  to ensure you have strong healthy bees going into the winter months and plenty of food to see them through it.  One advantage of the swarming is that you will have young strong queens going into winter/spring for next year.

All this equipment can be bought from Thornes and its not expensive and if not used will store till next year, but it’s better to have it so if necessary can be used immediately.

One other thing I noticed the brood box frames are pretty dirty and need changing otherwise disease will be carried from them.  This is done in the spring when the number of bees is smaller and there are empty frames which can be removed.  Ideally you sort out a system for changing about 3/4 frames a year in rotation so over 3 years all brood frames have been changed.  But winter preparation will include building enough new frames for this (not putting in the foundation until needed).  This can be done through the winter on quiet evenings when we are snowed in and there's nothing on telly!!!"

 

Two bee or not two bee

After months of disappointing and frankly, depressing winter bee stories, suddenly there is a buzz in the air, just as we were about to set off to listen to the hum of a different kind at the Isle of Man TT Races.  Northern Bees phoned to say our bees are ready for collection from Ripon.  On the same day, local bee keeper, Janet, who guided me through the six week basic bee keeping course, rang to tell me that a friend of hers, Ian, who is relocating wanted a new home for various hives and bees.  

We met Ian last Sunday for a free apiary masterclass (bee keepers are certainly always keen to share their knowledge), on Tuesday we meandered to Grindleton at around bee bed time, 8.30pm.  Being the owner of a suitable car with the height for a hive stack, Dad was designated driver.  Ian guided John and I through every precise process of moving a hive until it was securely in the car, then cheerily said "they're yours now!"  John and Dad, drove back steadily, windows down, wearing suitable bee keeping attire (just in case) bearing their cargo like a china tea set.  

Ian has three hives including thriving bees for sale.  One is a big healthy colony, but probably a bit advanced for us newcomers.  After helping us settle the bees in their new location we discussed with Ian the possibility of taking a second hive from him.  

An early call to Northern Bees the next day proved more than helpful (plus another 40 minutes advice).  With demand from their customers exceeding supply, they positively encouraged us to take the local hive.

Emma came home to the 'funny farm' for a week off - John had her calling him at the office with regular bee sightings and chick updates since it's also now time for them to venture outside.

Bee Story : Ian said 'good bye' to his bees and told us according to old folklore, apparently you must tell the bees if their keeper has died.  

He knows of a lady who, upon her husband's passing addressed each of his bee hives and on each pinned a black ribbon.  On the day of her husband's funeral the bees swarmed on their former keepers grave.  

Spreading the risk

Whether it was the shock of losing the coup that has spurred on Heinz 57 or maybe it's just that spring is in the air; she is broody.

Since our fox break in we've been leaving our eggs to accumulate in the nest box. When John went to the cabin to let them out last Thursday morning, Heinz 57 chicken was sitting, her wings spread protectively over the eggs.

John has converted Emma's old rabbit cage into a suitable brood box to give Heinz 57 the peace she needs away from Kelvin & Mrs.

We certainly don't have our eggs all in one basket - with our little egg stash in Clitheroe and our hensitting at home, surely something will deliver?

The Birds and the Bees

So, to recap, at 1.30am on Wednesday morning I lifted from my sleep to the sound of strangling pain.   Listening intently I realised it wasn't the sleeping sounds of my husband, but a tormented chicken.

"The chickens are being attacked" I shouted as I ran down the hallway, throwing on my dressing gown and grabbing my wellies at the bottom of the stairs.  Though as we ran down the garden I did just wonder if I might just have been dreaming.

John shone the torch into the pen and spotted the first corpse.  In all the years I have lived at Harrop we've always had hens and never any sightings of a fox near the homestead.  We tend to view locking the chickens away as a fairly academic exercise and on Tuesday night we were guilty of missing the routine.

We lost two ex-battery hens and two bantam Rhode Island Reds.  Kelvin the cockeral was panicky but survived along with one Rhodie and the Heinz 57 chicken which we found in a tree the next morning.  On the positive side, at least the two ladies were able to make a successful escape out of the unlocked hatch.

In anticipation of more successful animal husbandry, Wednesday evening was the first class of my six week Basic Beekeeping course at Grindleton Pavillion.  There's not much more depressing than listening to the pitfalls of bee disease and no one is optimistic of getting bees locally this year, if at all.  This reflects in the price of bees, at a sale in the Midlands this week, each queen and colony were selling for £280.  In the bee world hope is  pinned for a turn in the weather and (the thing John and I most dread) swarms, from which, when managed well, bee colonies can be divided to create more hives.  (That's a very simple interpretation I should not use in my exam!)

Meanwhile, Craig, who originally supplied us with the Rhodies and now keeps Old English Game, suggested we collect all the eggs we have and take them down to him, as he has a clucky hen.  John asked what temperature they should be, Craig's technical response is "chicken arse temperature!".

There we have it, with nothing to lose and all the information we need, we'll let you know if we hear the pitter patter of tiny shells in 21 days time!

Checking out

Last day - Tuesday 8 January

This is the way to holiday - ha ha! - breakfast at 10am, 10 minutes to stuff everything in our rucksacks and then a poolside sit until 1pm.

We met the savvy and stylish Deepa in person at her office in Mahim and after an all important masala chai and snack stop we spent a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon walking around food markets, identifying all the mystery fruit and veg.  We admired stunning shop window sari displays, wedding jewellery, leather shoes and all manner of paraphanalia.  John had some more fantastic photo opportunities.

With our flight not being until the early hours we returned to the hotel and then found our best bargain dinner yet at The Food Inn - tandoori chicken, aubergine curry, a naan bread, some rice and 2 Pepsi for just 400 rupees (about £4.50).

Apart from a cow in the middle of the toll road our journey to the modern Mumbai International Airport went well.  We declined the offer at check in to 'help out' by delaying our flight by 24 hours because it was overbooked.  Home was calling.

It was a foggy arrival to the UK on Wednesday 9 January, which delayed our arrival in Manchester by an hour or so.  We made a quick stop into French Connection to see Emma before taking the wheel back to the Ribble Valley and home.

I'd like to make a few important "thank you's"

• John - thanks for an amazing adventure and for following our dream to see the Taj Mahal
• Tom & Emma - thanks for letting us escape for Christmas and for missing us
• Mum - for looking after the dogs, taxi-ing Emma and holding it all together
• Frank Pleasants - for your encouraging comments and inspiring us to splash out on the Taj Mahal Palace Mumbai
• Cousin Virginia's scarf - so pretty, head cover when needed in temples and for  the cold
• Cross Trainers - wow have they seen some stuff!
• A certain shop in Long Preston - rucksacks, layered clothing - highly recommended
• Mr Penant-Williams (neighbour) - who advised it might be chilly in December, only sorry we didn't take nearly enough notice it being the coldest Indian winter in 90 years
• Our god daughter Amy - for a valuable gangham style dancing lesson in The Dog, Clitheroe
• Book - my book list has been immense but the most humourous  read at the right time, "Indian Takeaway" by Hardeep Singh Kohli - amused me through the train journeys (especially when John got off to get some snacks and I saw him walk past the window - Indian trains are VERY long and not connected!)

Deepa & team - great guides, marvellous meet & greets, dedicated drivers, terrific trips and fabulous food recommendations. Thank you..

 

Howzat

This morning we headed off in the direction of The Playground - a huge oval cricket ground where several cricket matches are in progress at once. At one end the games start with youngsters in team colours, moving down the oval teams are in whites.

The teams in whites are inter company games - employees receive one day off a year to go to Mumbai to play cricket. One of the groups we spoke to travelled from Jodphur this morning. They offered us some desert made by their wives for their day out.

We meandered back stopping off at a store Eshwari had recommended - Fab India. Fab indeed, no sales persons, clothing, bedding, furniture all available to browse and it's not just the westerners who seem to like this revolutionary way of minimum contact shopping!

This evening we met up with Mustaffer at Dharavi slum. His first question 'what do you expect of a slum?'

Though we expected a community we didn't expect one so self sufficient. Mustaffer guided us through the whole recycling process - plastic sorting, shredding and washing. Then the plastic is turned into pellets by machines made in another room. Other 'cottage' industries included aluminium, tin, block printing, pot making and textiles. The slums have shops, cinemas, restaurants and bars. I have to tell you, in a move worthy of The Bodyguard (or Dabangg!) John quickly diverted a man who lunged towards me having had a few too many bevvies. No big drama, but fast action.

Mumbai action

Unfortunately yesterday (Saturday) I started with a little Bombay belly, call it what you will. I wasn't missing the Mumbai local tour though, I've seen too many of Deepa's photos of our lunch time stop, Swati Snacks. (Besides Mrs Tapley had assured me she was sending me off with the very tablets we needed, just in case).

I can't tell you how different Mumbai is to the other places we've been. As Deepa said when we chatted briefly yesterday, 'it's like a different country'. John and I can put aside our cross trainers for a few days and wiggle our toes in flip flops enjoying the sun and clean streets.

Now it seems a shame to imagine that the cities where we have been will ultimately fall into line with the rest of the cosmopolitan world. Oh, there's no keeping me happy - I'm an idealist!

Anyway, we met our guide, the delightful Eshwari across the road near the Gateway to India. Eshwari is bright and bubbly and studying humanities in Mumbai. Eshwari's friend was also doing a tour with a young American lady, Ariene. After our morning wander, Ghandhi Museum visit and hop on a bus and cab we all met up for a real giggly girls (and John) lunch at Swati Snacks, it was a real tonic. I only wish I could have indulged in some more of the tasty treats. My favourite was a daal served with a soft buttered bun - comfort food.

I slept from 2pm when we returned until 9am this morning. Apart from home, I can't think of a nicer place than the Taj Palace in Mumbai to be poorly in (I had the curtains closed all day - sorry Mum!)

Sunday 6 January
A very leisurely start and feeling tip top again today. We wandered across to The Gateway to catch a ferry to Elephanta Island for a couple of hours. It's popular with locals who pay just 10 rupees for their ticket, jolly foreigners (as John keeps calling us) cost 250 rupees.

This evening we went to the Regal Cinema to watch Dabangg 2 - we were recommended as the best Bollywood choice for singing, dancing and action without the need to understand the words. First we all stood for the Indian national anthem. The movie was fabulous and the audience participate with laughter and encouragement too. I'm tempted to get it on rental when we get home then we can catch up on the in jokes we missed.

Pictures: 'new' laundry at the Taj
Poorly person elephant

Shaken and stirred

Friday 4 January 2013

A leisurely 9am start for our drive to Varanasi airport for a connection to Mumbai.

Arrival in sunny Mumbai 1330 hours where we are transferred to our hotel. Now you may have gathered we've chosen mixed lodgings and have been fortunate that a couple have greatly exceeded our expectation, Ratan Villas and The Grand Wyndham in particular.

Our next choice is 'the cherry in the pie' - the Taj Mahal Palace - again, John stayed here as a youngster of 11.

We are greeted by beautiful saried ladies and given a garland of jasmine flowers and fresh apple juice. I'm overwhelmed at the sudden contrast in our journey. Our khaki travelling gear seems a bit out of place amongst Dior, Louis Vuitton (not taking orders Emma!), and Mont Blanc not to mention Bollywood society.

Anyway, first job is to fill a laundry bag, we've not had chance to avail ourselves of laundry service during the last couple of stops and we need to scrub up. I only wish I could tick the 'safari suit' option for John. Then it's time to step across the road to The Gateway of India and then maybe a G & T.

Catch you later!

(In actual fact on John's earlier visit as a youngster he wouldn't come out of his room for 3 days because there was a little boy on the street his age begging with a Yorkshire terrier and there must have been a maternity hospital nearby where he saw women entering and then leaving with their offspring just a few hours later.

We've both seen things we'd like to shut ourselves away from on our adventure but I don't think we'll ever forget the impact or take anything for granted).

A fine balance

Thursday 3 January - we're up and out at 6am for a dawn boat ride along the ghats. We witness some funeral pyres next to the ghats where men are taking their early morning constitutional (chilly) dip in the Ganges. There are lots of little boats out and about so the water is soon lit with the little biodegradeable dishes containing marigolds, roses and a wax light.

After returning to Hotel Surya for breakfast its a mystery tour, our driver today speaks instructional English and we've forgotten our itinerary which only adds to the fun.

At Sarnath Temple, museum and our thoughts turn to a Buddhist way of life. It's quite easy to embrace the peace amidst the chanting monks and the tourists.

We're not really bothered about our lunch stop when we are deposited at Brownie Wood, but we go in and have a Pepsi. However, Brownie Wood is another surprise, like being in a hippie tent with Buddhist murals and low lighting. There are some really unusual paintings of the Ghats we like and best of all, the first time we've seen samosas on a menu and they don't disappoint.

After an hour or so respite at the hotel it's off again to the evening Ghat ceremony. We go early on at 4pm, probably a bit too early and have a couple of hours wandering along the Ghats.

The evening is an emotional roller coaster of feelings ranging from irritation to compassion; beggars, guys offering boat rides, funeral pyres, Europeans in hippie clothes probably on a quest to find themselves, children flying hundreds of kites, sadhus, monks, the blind, the self mutilated, cows chewing through rubbish, cow pats, dogs, red betel nut spits, urine, the man who before you know it plonks a bindi on your forehead then sticks an offering tray under your nose and the lady who finds any platform such as folded arms or a camera to put down an offering of marigolds for the Ganges in anticipation of rupees. Our guide from this morning finds us and adds to the test of my tolerance. He's nice enough and we enjoyed his time this morning but now I want to enjoy the relative peace of the ceremony, if possible amidst thousands of people and I don't really need chatter. Furthermore he says he's been waiting for us all day to to guide us round Sarnath and walk the Ghats, when we made it clear the boat ride was enough this morning. Like a spoilt child, perhaps I'm tired.

The ceremony is a special experience though and a true test of mindfulness whilst being jostled by the aforementioned list (oh, the kites have gone, it's too dark and the cows have nestled down by the shore line).

A speedy drive through the heavy traffic and a quick turnaround for dinner at the Radisson Hotel courtesy of Magic Tours of India. We're not really sure why, maybe because of our delayed journey yesterday, but it's very kind. While we sip our Kingfisher beers and stop spinning we're invited four times to take our food from the buffet.

A few different things I notice in Varanasi:

Streets - an obstacle course of cow pats and rubbish but the smells of hot ghee and kerosene are not so intense (or am I getting used to it?).
Begging - you never get used to it, but here I notice more small children, babies and cripples.
Less 'horning' - the expression for using the car horn. Though our driver here is keen to horn and take on the surrounding bikes, cycle rickshaws and oncoming traffic.
Spitting - it's as common as men peeing but I'm curious. How do they get so much spit? John and I have discussed the few spitting stories in our life and combined we couldn't compete. I guess the paan and bettell nut chewing must be a saliva catalyst.
Dogs - stray dogs are everywhere in India, but in Varanasi the dogs are distinctly flea ridden.

Looking outside the box

For me the Taj Mahal was a model approx 12 inches square which lived in a light box with a tangled cable and bakerlite plug. My grandfather, Freddy Groom brought it back for his younger sister, my great Auntie Doris, 87 years ago. John was lucky enough to see the Taj for real at 14 years old when accompanying his parents on a business trip.

Tuesday 1 January 2013

8 am - The cold fog is set around Agra - we walk around the Taj Mahal gardens expecting we'll be there a while before it lifts. The towers tease us through the mist. By 11 am we're loitering in the stunning mausoleum, grateful for the warmth of so many tourists.

At about 11.30 we can't hang around anymore, it's so cold and the Taj complex is lacking in a tea room, so we'll have to be happy with a few close up photos and the pictures we took last night from the other side of the bank. We ask an American guy to photograph us on the famous VIP seat. Sadly the Taj remains in its 'snowy' box today like the ones being sold for 100 rupees by the street hawkers.

After a brief re charge of warm sweet tea at our hotel we check out and go to the Red Fort. We keep glimpsing blurry views of the Taj across on the other side of the river to check if the vision has improved.

John and I decide on new tactics with the hawkers and guides today. We drop 'thank you' from 'no' - perhaps it shows weakness and we seem to get instant results as they move onto their next prey. When asked if we want a guide I say indignantly 'I am a guide!' I'm sure they've heard it all before but it provides us with some small amusement.

I'm not dreading the next train from Agra to Varanasi but I'm not particularly looking forward to it either. Our driver today (Pradeep left us last night for another tour) drops us off at Costa Coffee where we can linger til 7.30pm. I recall the years making a coffee last 2 hours whilst waiting for Tom and Emma's extra curricular activities.

The driver informs us that the train is 3 hours delayed, in fact 1 hour delay, plus one, plus one. We consider our options:

Drive to Varanasi - too dangerous in the fog
Fly to Varanasi - the airport is shut for 2 months
Go back to our hotel and wait: we speak to Sunil on the phone who is our Agra contact. He meets us at Hotel Ganga, it certainly smells but to be fair John spots someone is cleaning out a fish tank!

Sunil says he has arranged a good room rate, we decide to stay since we are there already. We're tired after our gala gangham style New Year's Eve party and a long day sight seeing. However, the hotel is horrible, we nap fully clothed, this is a box I don't want to remember.

At about 1am we get a knock on the door for our bags, seems the room call didn't happen then. The driver is waiting - we are on our way.

Just before 3am the train sets off, we are joined in our next AC 2 tier box by a lovely family from Buxton, Derbyshire with whom we spend the next 17 hours. The Marudhar Express due in to Varanasi at 0835 hours, arrives at 2000 hours on 2 January 2013.

First photo is taken at Taj Mahal.
Second is the 'baby Taj' Itmad-ud-Daulah (actually pre dates the Taj Mahal)
Last picture is the Taj Mahal 'box' my grandfather brought back in 1925