Missing

There is minor mystery in what is missing from the picture. This is a beekeeping shot

I spent the afternoon in the apiary, strimming around the hives, and pulling up long grass and nettles where they were too tough for my lightweight strimmer. To avoid nettle stings, I wear some leather beekeping gloves with long canvas sleeves, of the type that are always included in the "starter packs" sold to new beekeepers. Pulling nettles and pruning blackthorn are the only time I ever wear them

There is a mis-conception among nervous beginners that one should use the strongest possible protection against stings - good thick leather being the gold standard. The problem is that this makes beekeeping resemble the old Christmas party game of opening a present with a knife and fork while wearing boxing gloves. The gloves make the beekeeper clumsy and insensitive. Bees get squashed, hive parts get dropped, there is too much bumping and banging; the beekeeper gets frustrated that they cannot hold things securely or manipulate the parts confidently. The bees get more and more alarmed, the beekeeper tries to hurry the job, the bees react badly to fast movements, and the situation can get rapidly out of control

The more that I can feel what is going on around my fingers, the better I manage the bees. If a bee is trapped beneath my finger, I want to feel her buzzing and let her go. If the bees have built wax connections between adjacent frames, I want to feel that all is not right before I pull one out and damage the comb

For many years, I wore yellow washing up gloves. These give reasonable sensitivity but offer some protection against stings - or at least they stop stings penetrating too deeply. Three or four years ago, I swapped to nitrile gloves of the type medical professionals wear. These offer no significant protection against being stung, but they offer maximum sensitivity - which is why surgeons wear them. Since switching to them, I have calmer bees and get stung less

Today, I spent a while watching the front of the hives. The bees are working very hard and with urgency: leaving the hive entrance with Tesla-surpassing acceleration and returning directly into the entrance to unload their spoils and return for more - no ambling about and exchanging gossip on the landing board, as they sometimes do

The puzzle is that it's not clear what they have found to forage that is so attractive. The oilseed rape is now over, and that usually signals a slowdownfor two or three weeks. Perhaps there are some nearby beans that we have not seen, or perhaps the village gardens are now offering Cotoneaster, Ceanothus or rosemary. I wondered if the bees might be vising the copious hawthorn blossom this year, but could not find a single one. Somewhere they have got a more rewarding offer - so don't appear in the picture