Bees and Books

Yesterday at the Cheltenham Festival I interviewed Claire Tomalin about her splendid new biography of Charles Dickens. There was a big, eager audience and our discussion and the question-and-answer session that followed were tremendously enjoyable. The festival seems bigger than ever and was teeming with people, including lots of children. Altogether a very cheering event.
My bees are now ready for the winter. The two big hives have plenty of store and I am feeding the new colony on a half pack of Apifonda candy from Thornes - just in case they are a bit short. When I looked in the brood chambers last weekend there was capped brood in all of them so their queens are still laying. This year there have been almost no wasps - a great change from 2010. Maybe the hard winter was bad for them.