2018年4月27日金曜日 - 
Anthony: Making bee boxes for wild Japanese bees
The Japanese wild honey
bee is at risk of extinction, partly because of the successful
import of western bees to Japan for commercial pollination and honey production.
Two weeks ago, my wife and
I rented a car to visit a small mountain village to the north of us in Shiga.
We joined a group of bee enthusiasts and professionals on a project to
build traditional Japanese bee boxes. These would then be situated in the
mountains in the hope that wild bees would turn them into hives.
After an introduction, we
were put into groups. My wife and I were lucky enough to be partnered with an elderly bee keeper.
Each group was given an Ikea-like pile of wooden planks and screws, and the
directions for constructing the bee boxes were placed in the middle of the
large room. The leader of the project, himself a bee keeper, was on hand with
an assistant to give support.
The bee boxes took a
couple of hours to construct. Afterwards, we sat around a giant fire pit and
traditional rice cooker in the center of the house and shared introductions
while waiting for lunch to be served.
After lunch, we melted
some beeswax to smear on the inside of the boxes in the hope of tempting the bees
and took one of the boxes into the woods to set up – the others would be set
deeper in the woods by the beekeeper. A large rock was placed on the box to
give it some stability until the weight of the hive, the bees and their honey
becomes established.
And that was the day. In
two or three months time, we hope to hear that a hive has established itself in
our box and be invited up with the rest of the group for a day of honey
production.
Update to come!
Extinction：絶滅
pollination：受粉
enthusiasts：愛好家
hives：ミツバチの巣箱
partnered with：～とペアを組む
planks：厚板
straightforward：真っ直ぐな
handy：器用で
plied：浴びせる
horrified：ゾッとさせられる
smear：塗りつける