The learning curve

On the third of April the white van finally drove up to the house again. ‘I brought you two starter hives,’ Timothy announced. He took out stakes and green mesh: ‘I’m putting up a screen first,’ he explained. ‘The hives will be placed behind it.’ ‘But I was told they need space for a free flight when they come out of the hive,’ I said. ‘When the bees get out to forage they are hungry and impatient. They won’t tolerate anybody in their way. Now they have to gain altitude first and if you’re around they will fly over your head.’ It was the beginning of a learning curve. That much I understood.