Smoke Stake Lighten-ing Strike (Part Four)

More ninja style beekeeping this morning. At what seemed like the crack of dawn I packed the car with all my beekeeping stuff, a mountain of bungee straps and a large wooden lid, then drove the twenty miles to Swepstone. I had,the previous evening, sent a text to John and Judie saying I would arrive at 08:00 but actually got there at about 07:30, and being a Bank Holiday there surprisingly wasn't anyone about. The TBH we'd left was easily accessible so I decided not to wake anyone and got on with parcelling the hive ready to transport back. Thankfully Dave and I have stuck fairly rigidly to the measurements for TBH hives so the lid I brought with me fitted snugly, stopping the bars from moving and the bees getting out. After securing the roof with bungee cords it was a simple manoeuvre to lift the whole lot into the waiting duvet cover and then into the car.

There it was........

...Gone!
(The stone on the chair is what the
combs were hanging from)

Within forty minutes of leaving Swepstone the bees were installed in my Super Deluxe TBH. As we had done previously, when lifting swarms already established on bars, I just slid two bars under the ends of the bars containing the sown-on comb and lifted the whole lot straight in. It went so quickly and smoothly that even the flying bees, who were probably having a lie-in after yesterdays excitement, didn't get much of a chance to react. After shaking in some loose bees, I put in a few extra bars, pushed up the follower board, and put the lid on - job done! 

Thanks again to John and Judie (hope I didn't wake you?)

Boyd