Girls are back on the block

At 2:00 am I went out and removed the "door" on one of the beehives and half an hour later on the other hive. The girls get pretty worked up about being transported around and opening them up in the morning would have meant wearing equipment. They made a heck of a noise but I didn't stay around to observe them.

But this morning, with the sun shining they seemed to be settling in and it wasn't long before their welcome presence was spotted in various parts of the garden, notably the fish pond where just like their predecessors, they come to drink. I did also put out several saucers filled with gravel and water, a trick my daughter had told me about last year. Her version had coloured childrens marbles which make them attractive as well.

Bees are not very good with water and will often drown. Our swimming pool is particularly bad when they learn that there is a floating blue plastic cover on it, ideal for landing and drinking in the little puddles. The next day the cover is off but they don't realise and simply land on the blue water. So don't put any deep water containers near beehives.

In the Blip the two colourful hives from SebastianB. He had inherited them from an old beekeeper who was a carpenter and made them himself. They are "coming of age" but still serve the purpose. There are two layers each with eight frames lined 90° to the opening. My boxes on each side take 12 frames parallel to the opening. There are many types of hives and frames and luckily both our boxes use the German Normal size frames. So in a day or two, I just need to transfer the frames to my boxes and can return the empty hives.

They actually made a very friendly impression and bees are anyway far too busy at this time of year to bother with humans. Looks like they are heading out into the fields to concentrate on the dandelions. Unlike bumblebees who indiscriminatly hop from one flower to another, honey bees concentrate on one type of flower (nectar and pollen) source at a time. But on a single day, the hive controller can share out the load " You lot on apples, the rest on pears".

If I am very lucky and thanks to SebastianB's generosity in giving me so many frames, I might even have a few jars of dandelion honey. The family though are more keen on the milder honeydew honey which comes later on in the summer.

Interesting day in Bavarian politics. Religion has always played a major role in politics in the state. There are pretty good statistics on religion as everyone has to declare their religion when registering at the parish council. This data is used to share out the "church tax" that is deducted from your pay by your employer (yes he also knows your religion). If you earn say €1,000/month and pay 30% tax i.e. €300, a further 7% of the tax sum i.e €21 will be given to your chosen religious body (there is an official list of recognised religions).

The accuracy, however, has become less accurate as in ever-increasing numbers people are saying they don't have a religion and are thus not subject to this extra tax. Added to this, many are "leaving" their religions, a somewhat daunting process as you need to have a personal face to face lecture from the parish civil servants on the consequences - means you can't be baptized, marry or be buried in most official churches.

Bavaria is 58% Catholic, 24% Evangelical/Protestant, 1% Muslim, 1% others and 16% "non-religious". Thus 82% are Christian and presumably, a large number of the non-religious are actually Christians saving tax. Compared to say in the former East Germany which is 75% non-religious and 24% Christian.

(Interestingly in the former East German states, excl. Berlin, the Muslim population is around 0.2%, yet the main centres of the radical right-wing, neo-Nazi movement are based there.)

The crucifix as a symbol is a common symbol in Bavaria and was until 1995 officially hung in all classrooms. But then three schoolchildren and their parents, members of the "Anthroposophy" movement took the State to the German Supreme Court to have the crucifix banned, claiming that according to the Constitution, State and Religion had to be kept independent. They won. Bavaria ignored the ruling or rather issued a new law requiring the crucifix be displayed on historic and cultural grounds and only in extreme cases was it to be removed. In 2011, the European Courts actually supported the Bavarian measures when again a move was taken to overturn it.

Today the new Bavarian Government President passed a law that the crucifix was to be displayed in the entrances to all official state buildings as a symbol of the local "Cultural Identity". It is clear to everyone that the move is part of a strategy of winning back voters from the far right - the Bavarian State elections are to be held in the autumn and only the right wing can threaten the Conservative majority that has been held for all but 4 years since 1946 by the Bavarian CSU Party (Christian Socialist Union)

I, just like the leaders of both the Catholic and Protestant churches in Bavaria, don't have a problem with any of these "Crucifix" laws and even welcome them. But just as both religious leaders said today, not because of any purely brazen sign of the Christian Churches dominance, but using the symbol of the crucifix to remind us of the Christian teachings that all humans are equal and that particularly in the political world, this symbolism had to be lived daily in the hearts and minds of those in government and not just be a symbol on the wall.

For my part I am crossing my fingers that the girls feel at home in their new homeland.