Thursday, June 19, 2014

Gettin' ready for the bees


 Got the bee yard ready.  It's *Nellie approved*.
Ain't it cute?


I lit up Daddy's smoker.  First time in over 35 years.


It smoked for almost the entire time I was out there.
I think Daddy had a hand in that.


Got my bee boxes all ready for expansion.  These are all medium supers
(hive boxes).  They're lighter.  The ones on the left are 10-frame,
on the right are 8-frame.  They have 82 frames inside them.  I got all
those put together a couple weeks ago using my screw gun and brad nailer.


 Eventually, I think I'll move all my bees into 8-frame medium boxes
throughout the entire bee yard.  It'll be easier on my back so I'll be
able to continue beekeeping by myself 'til I'm 80.


 Those bricks on the right are where the new hive is going.  I've got them nicely leveled,
as is the hive on the left.  It's currently unoccupied, waiting for expansion.  I hope
to split my new hive later this year (move some of the frames with bees, brood, and honey 
into the second hive to make a new one).

Ever seen the inside of a hive without bees in it?  This is what it looks like
It's missing a frame.


The bottom board with a screen on top.  I need more of these screens.  If you put a
sticky board on the bottom board below the screen, it'll catch mites that fall through.
Then I can easily monitor the mite levels.


And my helpers, keeping the mulch from blowing away.


I can't wait for tomorrow.




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