The wooden hut which looks like a garden shed from a distance turns out to be an apiary, and home to 18 colonies. It's midsummer, and everywhere flowers are swaying in the breeze. The furry insects are living up to their reputation for diligence: they are flying in and out of their hives so eagerly that their friendly, gaunt owner has to make sure that nothing blocks their way. Two years ago he gave up the post, but not, however, his beloved bees.
After what has happened this summer, however, even a man as calm and experienced as Kurt betrays something of excitement in his face: he has collected more than 20 kilos of honey per hive, five to eight kilos more than usual, and of outstanding quality to boot.
In lower lying areas the bees awaken from their hibernation in March, and set off for their first cleansing flight as soon as the thermometer climbs above 12 degrees. When nature begins to bloom in April, life in the hives explodes: the queen lays up to 1, eggs a day, the colony multiplies rapidly, and the bees begin to build new honeycombs for their offspring. Drones are also bred in the hives, which will later mate with the queens.
Once the growth of the colony has reached Its peak, and as long as it is strong and healthy, the reproduction process continues: a new queen is bred, and the old queen lea- ves the hive with about half the colony. The new, more energetic queen is fertilised by several drones on her nuptial flight, and lays eggs to ensure the survival of her colony.
From this point onwards, that is to say around July, the bees begin their adjustments for winter. The queen lays fewer eggs, leaving more honeycomb cells free in the hive. The bees now fill them with honey for their winter supplies. As autumn advances, the hive becomes increasingly quiet. The short-lived worker bees are replaced by winter bees which live for four to six months.
