I fixed this problem before it was too late

Laurence Edwards installs beehives on Theatre Clwyd's roof in Wales, solving access and wind challenges by choosing an east-facing, sheltered spot. He uses Western Red WBC hives and settles two colonies: a nuc and a 4-kg swarm rescued from a tree, securing them with straps and letting them acclimate for an hour before they orient to their new home.
Chapters
I've got a big, big problem. I'm here today at Theatre Clwyd to put some bees up on the roof, but the spot that I've been given is just not suitable. It's way, way too windy. Zane, we need to get up on the roof and find a spot for these bees. So the problem with the first spot is that it's southwesterly facing. Now normally I wouldn't be too fussed about that, but they are very high up On a roof there and we get a real southwesterly, westerly wind coming in, it is not the place that you want to keep bees. So when I was searching through Google Earth, I found this lovely little spot here. It is perfect. It's east-facing, it's got a big massive wall behind it protecting it from that wind, it's got that nice early sun that's going to get the bees working in the morning, but there is no access up there. So unless Zane is going to hover me up on a drone each time, it is officially out of bounds. And to be honest, it is a bit of a maze up on this roof. There's locations that look good, but you either can't get to them because there's no access, or you can get to them, but the access is so tight that you literally cannot get a beehive through. I'm a little bit stumped. We need to find a location for these bees before these beehives arrive, or else it's going to be a little bit embarrassing. Thank you. Cheers. So we're on the roof of Theatre Clwyd, and as you can see, it's very, very windy up here. But my first time on the roof, Andrew the COO showed me around and said you could have bees there, you could have bees there, you can put them there. And all of the places looked pretty good. I'm trying to find something that's facing southeast. I'm trying to find something that's out of the wind. Let me show you around the spots that we provisionally agreed, because none of them are suitable. So this is the first spot that Andrew showed me here. And whilst it's got a little bit of blocking and it faces out that way, which is east, we are in a huge wind tunnel here. Like, you can really feel the wind flying through. So this spot here is just not suitable. I don't want to keep bees here because it might be a nuisance for people working here. But more importantly than that, is quite clearly not suitable for the bees. Let me show you where I agreed to put the bees with Andrew, because for me, for the videos, for Theatre Clwyd, it is ideal. I don't think it's the best spot for the bees though. So this is the exact spot where I agreed to keep the bees on Theatre Clwyd roof, and look at the incredible view. Like, it is perfect. I thought we were south-facing here, but we're not, we're southwest-facing. And you can feel the wind. Look at that. Like, I think this says it all. It is very, very windy on the top of a roof in Wales. So we need to find somewhere a little bit out of the way. This spot here is perfect because I've got the lovely view, but I just need to get out of the wind. So, Zane, let's go and look around here. So this is the area that we were flying around with the drone, and from above it looks really, really good. And as you come down here, the wind is much, much lower. But I think anywhere on this roof is going to be pretty windy. And the last thing I want to do is go and hide the beehives away so no one can ever see them. No one can ever enjoy them. I have got one last spot in mind. Fingers crossed we can make it work. Any good? Rubbish. Absolutely rubbish. No sun, lots of wind, terrible access. We're putting the beehives there. So the beehives have arrived, and take a look at them. They are Beautiful. Now, my first thought for the top of a roof was a really well-insulated hive, like a poly hive to protect from the wind and the elements. But when I look around at the glass and the wood and the metal of Theatre Clwyd, I just knew there was only one hive that I could put up there. And that is a couple of Western Red WBC hives that I got from my very good friends at Abelo. It is time to get these beehives up on the roof. 2, 3. Oh, they're lighter than I expected. Yeah, I'm good. We good? So that is the end of act 1. We've got the beehives up onto the roof. We're going back up to the forest now to get some bees, and I have got the perfect colony. Right, Zane, back up at the forest. Let me show you this colony of bees because I have got the perfect one for Theatre Clued. Right, we've got a little bit of a problem here, Zane, because I came up here at 5 o'clock this morning to close this entrance, which I did, and trapped all of the bees in. But it seems that a lot of bees have Got attracted to this absolutely brilliant queen that we have inside this colony. So I don't think I'd be best placed bringing the bees just like this straight into Theatre Clwyd because maybe someone in the cafe would get a little bit scared. We've got a problem, Zane. We've got a job to do. Let's get these bees off and get them ready for transit. So all of the bees are completely sealed in this box here, but I've just got loads that are attracted on the top because of the mesh. I caught this colony yesterday as a huge swarm that left a brilliant beehive, so I know it's one of my queens, but there are A lot of bees in the box and a few overflowing on the top there. So all I'm going to do is just move the bees. They are very friendly bees and they're going to fly back over there, hopefully, with a bit of luck. So that's all the bees off the nuc. And now I'm thinking about what do I need to actually take up on the roof? I've got my standard stuff. We've got our bee suits, we've got our hive tools. Obviously, we're not going to light any smokers on the roof. But one of the other things that I definitely wanted up there was some really good heavy-duty straps. So instead of screwing this I'm going to strap it up really, really tight. So that's one colony sorted, and this one here is the second colony that I'm going to bring. This was a ginormous 4-kilogram swarm, another one of my bees that ended up in the tree over there. I got it down with my swarm catcher, which is an extendable pole that gives you the ability to get them out of the tree. But inside this one here is a beautiful golden queen, perfect for theatre glue. So we have now got bees on the roof of Theatre Clwyd, but we need to get them out of the nuc and into the beehive and settle them into their new home. So it's been about an hour. The bees are getting used to where they live, and it's time for us to get them into the beehive. It always looks a little bit crazy when you do this, but the most important thing is that you go in here, find the queen, and get her in. And if you get the queen, all of the other bees will follow suit. So there we go, the bees are in their new home, and although it looks a little bit crazy at the moment, all these bees are doing is they're going out and triangulating and working out where they are. And there's something that I have to tell you, Beej. You have got a very special home here at Theatre Clwyd. Oh, really?










