Lots of fruit and Chalk brood

I have checked on the all the trees, we have lots of apples, plums and cherries but not lots of pears, in fact I haven't seen any. Most of the fruit is still growing and lots of sun water and time will hopefully ripen it. I am worried about some of the branches as the fruit is weighing down the branches, I am tempted to thin out the fruit, then again I want to achieve the biggest harvest. I am going to have to work out a balance.The ground is now a blanket of green grass and yellow from the flowers. My son loves wondering around looking at the horses in the next field and picking the grass and flowers. The grass is up to his knees.
The whole place is growing and even though we cut the grass recently around the trees it's in desperate need to get another cut. Lots of ladybirds I haven't seen any caterpillars recently, or bumble bees on the last few visits.

The bees, both the hives have less bees that I would expect, at this time of year I think that the ones at the orchard have swarmed. In both hives I am not seeing eggs and lots of chalk brood. I have contacted the Apiary manager at Sutton park and am seeing him and other bee keepers this afternoon and will get a chance to show them some of the chalk brood that I have collected. I am relatively new to treating chalk brood, as I have never had to deal with it before, so I will be trying to discuss this in detail at the weekly apiary meetings.

This is worrying and without the eggs and lave my hives aren't going to survive very long. I want to put a second hive in the orchard as soon as possible, and will be looking out for either a swarm or a small nuc. I will also have to buy some new bits like rapid feeders. The hive etc is ready at home. I may have to build a couple of frames with foundation though.

I have and will be showing a couple more friends inside the hives, this week.

Ed Swinton emailed me and has informed me that some of the Beekeeper pictures are on the BBC website. http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/manchester/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8709000/8709635.stm