The Nelson House Diaries: tiling a wet room floor

Thursday, 7 May 2015

Bee & bathroom update

The beekeeping project has moved forward with the arrival of the hive. When I say it arrived, all the pieces did.

I had opted for a National beehive which is probably the most common design for British back garden beekeepers. Putting it together was easier than I'd thought it would be - must be all those years of Ikea flat packs!

First was the brood chamber, where the queen lays her eggs.

Mortimer supervising

Next was a super which is where the honey is stored.

Mortimer still supervising

Then the second super.

The roof was preassembled and so I was finished.

The debate is now on whether or not to paint the hive. It is cedar so will weather to a silvery colour. My friend who keeps bees has his in cream and a lot of commercial beekeepers have them in dark green, it's a slight camouflage.

A couple of days later we sat at the table making up frames. I started and Andrew joined in as he found it quite therapeutic!

Frame making

The weather was much better then the previous lesson for opening the hives so we all got quite a lot of hands on experience.

This was the first time that one of the hives had been opened this year. It was a small colony which had just had a brood box but they'd obviously been out and about collecting food as they had spread up to the roof to make honeycomb. We all had a taste and it was delicious.

Honeycomb in the roof

Whilst I've been playing with the bees Andrew has been able to spend a bit of time on the wet room. Although this photograph doesn't show it he has finished the floor

and prepped the shower end ready for tiling (which he's now started).

Next step is to get some bees and finish the tiling. Progress!

Sunday, 19 April 2015

Last week at Nelson House

Last Sunday was the first of the practical beekeeping sessions at the West Norfolk & King's Lynn training apiary.

Training apiary

Now it may look like a benign day in the photograph but what you can't see are the winds that were a steady 30 mph and gusting 50. The bees weren't going out in that and if we'd opened up the hives they would have been blown away and may not have been able to return. However there were lots of other things to learn so we went up to the rather smart portacabin for some hands on demonstrations.

First was how to light, and keep lit, your smoker. This is very important to keep your bees quiet.

Lighting the smoker

It is not, as I had initially thought, the smoke itself that subdues the bees. Bees are originally from Africa where forest fires are common. When the bees sense smoke their instinct is to save the colony and to do this they need food and so they glut on honey. And like all of us after a heavy meal we feel a bit dozy and slow down a bit.

Smoking equipment

Our other project was assembling frames of which there are two types - those that hold the brood and where the queen lays the eggs and smaller ones where the honey is stored. They come flat pack and have to be assembled (apparently this is how I will be spending my winter evenings!). Fortunately my upholstery skills came in useful when hammering in the small tacks.

Frame assembling

While I was away with the bees Andrew started the really tricky floor tiling in the wet room. This is a challenging job as the tiles have to go in the drainer, there is a slight slope on the floor so that water will drain, we have put down underfloor heating and to add to his problems we decided on a diamond bond as the room is L-shaped and this works best. He was very even tempered as several tiles were broken in the attempt to get some very complicated cuts done. But his perseverance paid off.