Lottery funded bee keeping and The Shed

I didn't deal well with swarms last year and my end of term report would have said 'Could do a lot better'.
My bees at Scald End are a bit of a problem as they are 5 miles away so not so easy to keep an eye on.
So I have been looking at using some other ways of dealing with swarming in particular using what are know as Snelgrove and  Horsley boards [explanations of which will be in a future blog].
Problem is if you buy them from Big T [bee keepers will know who I mean] they are ridiculously expensive considering that are little more than a modified crown board made of plywood, and completely uneconomic to have one for each hive.
I had been looking at them again recently and came across a company that sold them for half what Big T were selling them for. Then last week I got an email from the National Lottery :-

We've got some news about your ticket from the draw on Wednesday 16 Mar 2016.
Please sign in to your account as soon as you can for more information.
Congratulations and thank you for playing.

This is it I thought, a life changing amount of money is mine.
£25.
Then this morning I got another email from them.

We've got some news about your ticket from the draw on Wednesday 23 Mar 2016.
Please sign in to your account as soon as you can for more information.
Congratulations and thank you for playing. 

Ok this time its going to be The Big One?.
£51

Cumulatively about the same amount as a Horsley and Snelgrove board.
They are on order.

Incidentally on the principle of third time lucky, if I get another email from the National Lottery this will have been my last ever blog.  [I do wonder if someone who wins millions just gets the same sort of email]

Many of you will be aware of my beloved Land Rover. It is affectionately known as The Shed and is part Site of Special Scientific Interest, part National Heritage Site, part reportable health hazard, but mostly a rusting lump of agricultural machinery.
What seems years ago, it suddenly became very ill and came to a wheezing stop on the A603.

Extensive analysis revealed it was suffering from PISS or Piston Is Seized Syndrome as it is better known. Rogers of Bedford undertook the difficult task of trying to nurse The Shed back to health but eventually decided it needed major transplant surgery. A new engine.

Months passed as a suitable transplant was hunted down. Possible replacements appeared and were rejected then a couple of months a suitable donor was found and the delicate task of replacing a rusting lump of agricultural metal with another lump of rusting agricultural metal began.

The process was successful and once again The Shed rumbled into life.

Just as it seemed we were about to be re-united it turned out it needed to be MOT'd. Appropriate valves, grommets and flanges of the right colour and shape were purchased. Bits of metal were hit with suitable hammers and it finally passed.

We were reunited yesterday and surprisingly Rogers had tried to clean it meaning several rare species of microbial life will forever be lost to the scientific world. Also it turns out The Shed is blue not the brown colour as I thought so I will be looking for a muddy ditch to drive through or perhaps I should buy this
The Rogers mechanics obviously have a sense of humour as they put those white plastic bag things on the seats to keep them clean.

The bee keeping relevance to all this is that I will at long last be able to get to the Scald End bees to see how they are and to give them the feed I have already given to the Ravensden bees.

Also in the next month some new colonies will be delivered and I need the Shed to get to the apiaries.