Christmas Gifts

This year I did very well for Christmas. I always appreciate the presents I receive but have been especially impressed this year at the actual usefulness of my gifts. Below are pictures of what I received that are relative to my blog. If anyone who bought me any of the presents below is reading this blog then thanks again!

A hive tool. There are 2 main designs of hive tool, I already had the other now I have this one as well. As I am looking to have at least 2 hives by next year and my partner enjoys getting her Bee suit on and helping it made sense to request a spare hive tool. The hook on the bottom is really useful for lifting frames!

On the left is a Queen cage; this is used to capture the Queen and the using a non toxic pen (on the right) apply a small dot of ink so she is easier to see. There are 5 colours used when marking Queens but as I'm colour blind I will stick to white. Multiple colours are used to tell the age of the Queen so as I'm only using 1 colour I will have to keep good notes.

Beeswax mould; I'm sure some point next year there will be a blog to show this in action. It's basically used to make blocks of wax. 

An egg cup and a honey spoon. The egg cup is from my 1 year old daughter and is probably my favorite present out of everything I got! 

A Bee car sticker and a wind up Bumble Bee torch!

A home brew kit for making 40 pints of lager (far left), a large fermenting vessel (middle, I already have one exactly the same but having a second can't be bad, more beer!) and a bottle corker (far right). I imagine these items will all feature in future posts that I will be writing soon 

Beekeeping books. I look forward to reading these and trying out some recipes.