My lovely husband, Ben, keeps bees. Lots and lots of bees, which he affectionately calls his 'hareem' (wishful thinking if you ask me...)
He has three hives situated at the bottom of the garden. This is his first year as a proven beekeeper and, with any luck, the bees will survive winter and will produce enough honey for us to swim in next year.
Ben was given a swarm which had made it's home in a bin.
He brought the bin home in the back of his car, dressed in his full beekeeping outfit, to put in his 'nuke boxes', which I think is a posh word for a baby hive. On the way home, the police mistook him for a terrorist. Sirens blazing, they pulled him over and made him get out of the car. Ben emerged from the car still dressed to the hilt in his beekeeping outfit (including his hat) and explained to the police that he had a swarm of mad bees in the boot of the car, did they want to take a look? The police smiled politely, then shot into their own car and slammed the doors behind them, leaving Ben looking like a Martian, standing all alone in the middle of the road!
Anyhow, he brought the swarm home and hass built his own hives and pretty white 'nuke boxes' (I'm sure he'll moan at me for spelling that wrong) in which he keeps any new swarms of bees he may find. When the swarm gets big enough, he moves them to a proper hive. He has three nukes and three hives.
We're even making Mead, which is a gorgeous honey wine. We've found a fantastic recipe that actually tastes nice and, fingers and toes crossed, it'll be ready to drink by Christmas 2011. I'm currently making some Cinnamon and Clove Mead. Ben also makes blow-your-head-off cider.
The candles and soap making will happen when the honey does. Keep watching this space for updates!
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