Can't wait to get my hands on some of that honey! I got stung on the wrist yesterday. Surprisingly it hurt less at the point of sting than the last time I got stung. However today it swollen and itchy and hurts like crazy. That's what I get for not wearing my gloves! Point made, I will wear them next time I am filling the sugar water jars. When I was checking the hives earlier (when I took these pictures) I watched a bee hatching, I don't know why but everything about them is amazing and I love to watch them.

A Bee Tree: Removing Bees from a Tree

First taste of honey

Dipping my finger in the honey comb was a real treat!

Busy busy bees

The bees in my yard are doing fantastic! They are working on filling up their second box.Not sure what's going on with the bees in Perkinsville, they seen lazy and slow. Not to mention angry all the time.The ones in my yard are always calm and never get too excited when we poke around. Hoping they both make it through the winter,I'm excited to start collecting honey.

First Official Visit to the New Bees

The bees had a few days to get settled in and we were anxious to see if the queen made it through the transition without getting balled(basically smothering her) by the worker bees. A common occurrence when you introduce a foreign queen to a hive. When we opened the hive it was oddly quiet and as the cover came off I was a bit nervous that the hive was going to be empty. It wasn't! These bees are peculiar to me and nothing at all like the other hive of bees I have. But that's the thing about bees they are always different and they are always surprising you. They say there are about 10,000 bees in a 3 lb package (this is the size we got), I don't know if I believe that, I think there may have been 5,000 to start. There are less now, some died in transport, and some drown in the sugar water. That one was my fault, long story! I am a bad beekeeper, but Bill Turnbull says not to worry, it happens. (Confessions of a Bad Beekeeper) So anyway back to the story, The bees are all clustered in a huge mass across the length of three frames, covering the front and back of both. When I say clustered I mean they are one on top of another stacked 4 and 5 deep (wish I had my camera). They have 7 other frames! it isn't cold out and I can't understand why they would be like that, but I guess they know what they are doing. I'm pulling out the frames loaded with bees and they are super heavy, I couldn't see the plastic frame foundation beneath all the bees and I wanted to see what they had been up too, so with my finger I gently push a mound of bees aside. I can't believe my eyes! In less than 2 days time these bees have built several frames of honey comb, not only that but they have most of them filled already. Gives new meaning to the term busy bee! I can't see the queen anywhere and it is too early to see if she has started laying eggs yet. the only way this hive will survive is if she is still alive. Only time will tell. The bees that I pushed aside stick to my gloved fingers and for a moment I am just standing there starring at them on my hand. Their wings are fanning so fast that I can actually feel the vibration through the leather. The bees really don't even notice our presence at first and I am out there in bare legs and feet (I'm getting brave) my face is still covered and probably will always be covered, I can't imagine getting stung in the face! By now we have been there a while and a few are starting to get excited, I know this because there are 3 or 4 buzzing furiously and loudly buzzing around my head, I'm sure in bee language this is creating quit a scene. They could be communicating with their sisters saying come over here and help us get rid of this thing. So it is time to go. I am getting brave but I'm not that brave yet. Check out this guy in the video, seeing things like this make me just a little more comfortable around the bees. They really are not here to sting, they really mean no harm. But seriously!? whats the matter with this guy???

We checked on the bees tonight. Lance made a comment about how calm the bees seemed to be. They couldn't have cared less that we were there. We were pulling out their frames, poking around and taking pictures. He said if that was a yellow jacket nest we would be dead! He is probably right. I am not sure what is going on, but those bees are building honey comb at an odd angle and the wax is not strong and seems to be breaking. As a result the bee larvae (developing bees) are exposed and some have fallen to the floor of the super. They don't seem interested in building any wax on the new frames in their hive yet and only a few have ventured into the top super. I wonder how long it will take them to get building up there? I guess we will find out. We got some great photos tonight, and I am always amazed at how many bees cluster up on one frame. i couldn't find the queen, which was one of my goals in today's visit. I'm sure she is there somewhere in the mass of buzzing busyness. Stay tuned for more bee fun.

I got confirmation that the new bees will be arriving on Saturday afternoon. Got the hive all ready for their arrival, now I need to research how to install them. They are not coming as a NUC(5 full frames of honey, brood and bees) like the last batch. Those were easy simply pick up the frame and put it in the hive. These little girls are in a small wooden crate with wire mesh and a tin can filled with sugar water. The queen is inside a small cage with a cork in it. I have to remove the sugar water can, take the queen's cage out, replace the cork with a marshmallow and hang her inside the new hive. Then dump the box of probably pretty pissed off bees into the hive, cross my fingers and hope this all goes well!.lol It should be fine people do it all the time. Here is a picture of what it will look like when I pick it up.

New Bees

We got the new hive painted and Lance made a stand for it(cement blocks just didn't have the look I was going for). We decided to paint it jade green, instead of white. I think it is a very pretty color and blends in well with the leaves and grass. Trying not have it stick out like a sore thumb, in case someone passing by decides to complain about my keeping bees. The new bees should be here this weekend. I am very excited to have a hive close to home so that I can watch them daily. It is fun and interesting to watch them land and take off, either coming back from a foraging expedition or heading off on one. Lance said when he was watching the other hive one of them came in for a landing a bit too fast and barrel rolled to a stop on the bottom board near the entrance, wish I could have seen that. Maybe it was a baby bee just learning to take off and land. There is so much to discover with these little gals. I love seeing the little baskets on their legs filled with pollen. That sight gets me smiling from ear to ear, it is hard to explain why, I'm just weird that way I guess.

The Arrival of the Bees Sunday June 9th

All the way from Maine the bee's came in this truck. Now to get them home and into their new hive!

Removing the cover was super scary! Pretty funny that I was wearing flip flops! I was supposed to be wearing rubber boots, but they were in the back of the car, and a huge swarm of bees escaped from the NUC and were all over my boots. I decided to take my chances with the flip flops. It went ok, I was nervous when the bees started to congregate on my bare skin but they didn't sting me. I wonder why? I could feel my heart beating a million miles an hour. Surely so could they.