Today was the day of bees. Having just arrived from B.C., auntie C and girl child went to pick their bees from the drop off point and participate in a 'how to install your bees' demonstration. I came along as documentarian and possible bee trauma recovery personnel for the girl or her auntie, who were both feeling a bit nervous, albeit for different reasons. It turns out, though, I should not have bothered with worrying about girl child freaking out. She took to bees like a duck to water. Or like a bee to nectar?
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| Bees all packed up and ready to go at the pick up spot |
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| A peek in the bee box |
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| Swarm of beekeepers watching the demo |
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| Getting aggressive, I was able to elbow my way in to actually get a look at a bee or two |
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| Beekeeper Master cutting out a comb to place in the new bee box - not the kind of box we were going to have to populate with bees, though. Ours just require transferring of the the frames into a new hive box. |
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| Yum, hunny |
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| Girl child loves bees |
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| Chicken! A dozen or so of very well kept chickens kept me entertained while the bee people learned their trade |
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| Demo box emptied of three frames, with just one remaining |
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| Finally, bees and beekeepers are ready to head home |
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| Back at auntie's place - time to get serious |
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| My little girl, smoking the bees before the move |
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| Oh, the power! |
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| Opening the box |
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| Yup, them's bees alright |
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| Somewhere in here is a queen bee that needs to be found |
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| Each frame is removed and inspected for the queen as well as to check on eggs, larvae and bee health sort of things | | | |
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| Can you spot the queen? |
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| Lifting a frame |
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| Checking it out |
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| Placing it in the new hive box |
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| With the frames all in, girl child is squirting some sugar water into the new hive box to give it a homey smell |
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| Bees all tucked in their new home |
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| Bee break - I hear a frame full of comb and bees is quite heavy |
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| Still have to transfer the stragglers from the travel box and put together the hive box |
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| Brushing bees with a flick, not a roll |
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| Auntie's dog, remembering when he used to be the favorite pet |
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| Box together and a sugar drink for the bees to help them recover from their move and encourage them to feel welcome in their new home |
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| Ta-da! |
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| Auntie and girl child checking out a bit of comb that had to be scraped from the edge of a frame and tasting some royal jelly |
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| This, if you are wondering, is how royal jelly tastes |
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| Girl child resting after a busy afternoon in her Marceline hat |
Bees, it turns out, are kind of fun. I hope the hive has settled down since I last seen them, especially since a rain shower moved in only an hour or two later. It's funny how having a single bee buzz around one's head causes one to have a bit of a wobbler, swatting and running away, but a few hundred bees buzzing makes one feel almost calm. Girl child felt quite bulletproof inside her bee keeping gear and while I tried to keep about six to eight feet away during the transfer, I really felt no danger. There were times when I walked right up to the hive with hundreds of bees flying about without a worry.
The next step for girl child is to start getting comfortable enough to forgo some of the protection as she helps with weekly bee health checks. Today I saw people handle the bee frames quite calmly without any sort of protection, so I know it is quite possible. Which brings me to the question I'm sure at least a couple people have been wondering: was anybody stung?
No. Nicest bees in the world. Would have them over for tea anytime.
Any beekeepers among the readers here?
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In case you were wondering:
Ah! Which one was the queen? LOL, I have no idea and it will bug me forever that I don't know which one was the queen!
ReplyDeleteSusan, check out the end of the post - answer is there :)
ReplyDeleteThis was so fun to read! I've been interested in raising bees for a while now, and hope to see you write more about this in the future!
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I just started keeping bees about a month ago, and we love them!
ReplyDeleteI'm honestly amazed at how NOT terrified I am, and at how much calmer I've also gotten around bumble and carpenter bees. Yesterday, my brother-in-law was over, so I lent him my gear to wear for the hive inspection while I stood just two feet away in a t-shirt and jeans, bees buzzing all around me, calm as could be.
If you'd known me before, your jaw would drop to the floor at that; I'm generally a big baby when it comes to insects and arachnids. I love my girls, though!
Tuns out we have to re-queen, so that's stressing me out. Last week, everything looked good, and then yesterday we found a ton of larvae, but no eggs, so our queen is either failing or died. Picking up a new lady tonight.
Keep posting about the bees; I love hearing others' stories!
We've been keeping bees for about a year now, and my children (11, 8, and 5) are all very involved in the process. My 8 year old got his own hive this year, and he is thrilled with the responsibility. Its been a great experience for all of us, without too many traumatic stings, and the honey is the best I've ever tasted!
ReplyDelete