Elbbees

At the end of summer 2015, my sister had to find a place for her two offshoots that was at least 2km away from her stall. The place of her choice was in the yard of our parents' house, about 70km away from her stall. Better safe than sorry. My younger sister and I stood somewhat incredulously in front of the two young colonies and hurriedly called our old friend and neighbour to help, who has been beekeeping for 50 years; because the Carnica bees given as a gift were quite 'vital and eager to sting. He introduced us to the mysterious world of beekeeping and helped us to get through the first 6 weeks with our new caretakers. After the first encounters with the bee stinger, I read everything I could get my hands on about bees, bugged all the beekeepers I met and then I had the best teachers there are on beekeeping anywhere: The bees themselves! Today I sometimes smile about the early days, but it was quite hard at times, especially for my social environment. We collect nectar and pollen in the nature reserve around the Elbsee lake on the outskirts of Düsseldorf and Hilden. Our bees, which consist of around 40 colonies, enjoy the taste of various fruit trees, including cherry and apple, as well as the pollen of lime trees, blackberry bushes and rape blossoms.