Sherlock Holmes and the Essence of Beekeeping

Section IV

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"I have yet to explain my absence of the past few months. Not that I owe the people of London any enlightenment, but I have decided to oblige after a very unpleasant word from my friend, Dr. Watson—a word in which he insisted with complete boredom that as a person of interest in this enormous city, I have an obligation to the public to express my reasoning for this late entry. The reason simply being that I haven't had sufficient time to put my energy into penning another article as of yet. Watson seemed to care a general amount how I am seen through the public eye, but I on the other hand do not care in the least what people think of me.

"You are being absolutely silent over the past few days, Holmes. People will talk..." Watson came upon me with these words one morning whilst sitting down to his usual cup of tea at this specific time.

"People do little else," I quickly added, putting a light to my pipe; an action which prompted great disapproval from the good doctor who insisted it was too early for smoking. Nevertheless, once I stated to him I would write up another paper afterwards, he was quite obliging to let me finish my smoke. 'One pipe, Sherlock,' he stated in his tried and true measure of determination, staring at me with his scrunched up eyes. A statement that took me aback slightly for he seldom, if ever addresses me by my for-given name. At any rate, the article as I have so promised to pen shall commence presently... once I have finished my pipe...

Article IV

"I have actually just recently been out to observe my hives, and I must first make note to any reading this that they are getting along splendidly. For now, I must add. It is necessary to assume that the little creatures can and perhaps will go completely mad at any moment, and it is then up to you as the beekeeper to determine the problem or cause thereof before any further damage to the hive or colony takes place. It is paramount that once your colony has well established itself, you must go to observe your hives under the impression that not everything shall be in apple pie order. Sure, I am not the exact meaning of that phrase. It is one I picked up from the good Dr. Watson, which in turn he caught a habit of saying from his continued client/doctor relationship with a certain person from America. Apple pie, I have so been informed from John Watson, is an American staple.  But that is not the subject of this article, so I shall refrain from spilling and or perhaps boring you with my excellent lecture on the American customs and culture which have sorrowfully made an impactful influence on jolly England.

"To keep this article in the essence of beekeeping as I have so colloquially titled it, I shall now continue where I have left of from the last. Like I stated in the previous article, once the queen has begun laying eggs, which I might add should commence fairly quickly if it is a swarm you have captured. It shall take about a week for the egg—soon to become an adolescent honeybee to reach the stage where the nurse bees shall cap the cell. Once you have spotted egg-filled cells, you shall be able to notice the position of the egg change as well as the size over the next several days. As the nurse bees feed and care for the egg, it will begin to grow into the larva stage.

              Commencing day six from the moment the egg has be laid, you should be able to determine its growth into the larva stage by witnessing whether or not the little egg resembles a tiny-tiny doughnut or some circular item. It should be white in color—closely resembling the shade of a pearl and both of its ends should be touching or in very close proximity thereof, and it shall still be situated at the very back of the cell.

              Once you have survived to day ten, the little larva should have stretched itself into full capacity of the cell's space, taking up its entirety, at which point the nurse bees shall commence in capping the cell with the same waxy substance they would utilize in capping honeycomb.