We Were Invited To Steve And Kai's,

for a Sunday bar - b - q

and as usual took way to many photographs, so I am only making one post today, Diana all set to go,

we soon arrived at Steve and Kai's, the table all set, 

Kai had already started on preparing the food,

Steve had assembled the barby, 

we made our way into the garden,

where this years crops were starting to grow, plenty of lettuce for the summer salads!

strawberry picking time,

there was a bumper crop this year,

the trick is, 

not to eat them as you are picking them!

one of the bee hives next to the strawberries,

time for bubbly!

any second now,

success!

glasses all round,

'Cheers!',

a quick look at some of the goodies, 

for when the barby is lit,

but first every week Steve inspects the hive as most bee-keepers do, so time to kit up,

and light the smoker, 

all set to go, 

top removed, 

to expose the first set of frames, 

Steve was looking for the Queen, it is de rigueur to keep the Queen in a small container if found whilst looking at all three levels of the frames,

each frame is carefully inspected, 

and then down to the second layer, 

this is the Queen excluder, it stop the Queen from leaving the nest but allows all of the other bees to pass, 

as well as looking for the Queen and inspecting the bees, 

Steve is also looking for Queen cells, where future Queens may be born,

the next set of frames down,

all looking good,

it seems impossible to spot just one bee, the Queen, 

but she is in there a tad larger than all of the other bees, 

with all of this actively, 

Diana had to have a closer look,

the honey comb nearly filled with eggs, 

and there she was, 

just there!

but before Steve could capture her she disappeared,

not to worry the thing is Steve knows she is where she should be,

there were so many bees in this level,

making baby bees and honey!

each frame covered in bees both sides of it,

Steve did find the start of a few Queen cells, 

which means the hive is getting too full and they may swam to find a bigger new site, 

all in all looking good,

then,

next level down,

by now the bees were starting to get agitated, 

so a touch of smoke to calm them down,

that's better, as all was well, 

time to reassemble the hive, 

all done, just the top to go, 

Ta-Dah!

out of interest I made a short video of Steve inspecting the bees,

meanwhile, 

the food was being prepared, 

also Jeab was here, 

and made a posy for the table,

'Cheers!',

the barby was going flat out, 

and a tad smoky too!

then it was Diana's turn for cooking,

and my turn to open a bottle,

any moment now, 

nearly, 

success, 

easy does it, 

we were joined by Phanee,

the feast began, 

so much to choose from,

and here they all are, 

we were then joined by Mathilda, 

Steve had bought a strange looking bottle of wine,

it looked normal from the front, 

as you would expect, 

but from the side it was thin! what a great idea, it contained the same as a normal bottle but think of the space saved in the refrigerator when you can stack them one on top of the other, 

the a bit of a disaster, whilst Diana was cooking some of the fat from the meat caught alight, 

soon remedied by Kai,

oh dear, 

but not to worry, 

the fire looked worse than it was,  

especially if you like your food well done! after our meal Diana had to leave for work for a few hours, when she finishes she will go straight home,

meanwhile Buddy called by, 

for a petting, 

before deciding it was crowded and walked off, after a couple of hours I said my goodbyes and made a move for home, many, many thanks to Steve and Kai for inviting us, what a wonderful day we all had, arriving home Diana was already there, so feet up for a couple of Columbo's before we were off to bed.