Strict door policy at the hive today.
I’ve been away from the hive for a couple of months on a
US road trip but the bees have been in the very capable hands of John and Mikey, with Barnaby from Walworth City Garden in the sweeper role.
Mikey took away a number of brood frames and has got himself a hive on a rooftop near Old Street, where some of our bees (and their relatives) are now hanging out with the cool kids near Hoxton Square.
On my first visit back we are joined by a couple of new beekeepers who John met on the course he gives at Roots & Shoots. The bees are a little angry.
We also have David, a retired engineer who is part of the Bio Electromagnetic Research Initiative who got in touch in order to take some readings up on the roof and see whether there are any clues about colony collapse in the airwaves. David didn’t get the high readings he expected, which i think means that our bees are in a good spot.
It raises interesting questions about how beekeepers can work with scientists to combat the problem of colony collapse. John offered to let David come along to check readings around his hives in Acton, but apparently he’s got a sub station at the end of the garden so the readings there will probably be off the scale.
Which brings me on to some exciting news. I’ve received a travel grant from the British Council Darwin Now Awards to visit migratory beekeepers and scientists in California to find out what they’ve discovered about unexplained bee disappearances. More news from that trip when it happens.
