Worked
the bees for the first time today and HOW MUCH FUN WAS IT!!! I had a
BLAST! Yeah, I really think I'm going to like this beekeeping thing. I
remember liking it when I was a kid helping Daddy, but you know about
childhood memories - they rarely live up to the hype when you revisit
them. But this time ... this time they sure did.
I
woke up late, about 7:30. I'd asked Rhonda to come over early so I
could get this done while it was still cool out, and she got here about
fifteen minutes after I woke up. We had a little tea and coffee
together then got to work. I rounded up all my tools, handed her the
camera and my big hat with the homemade veil, and out we went to the
hive.
I got the smoker lit and got into my suit. It
would turn out that I really didn't need to be covered that much. These
bees are so gentle! They didn't bump me at all, and I only got stung
once on the thumb, and that was after I was putting the frames back
together and you always squish some. I don't blame them for being
pissed. And my smoker went out about then, so I couldn't calm them with
it. Despite all that, just one sting. Nice.
They
tried to sting me a few other times, but not nearly as much as I thought
they might. I'm confident now that I can work them with just a veil,
gloves, and long-sleeved shirt. One of these days I just might be one
of those crusty old beekeepers who works them without anything on. ... I
mean bee gear. (Au natural beekeeping. Now
that would be something.)
I
was able to carry out all my plans - get the frame feeder out, inspect
all the frames, put more empty frames in the box, and put another box on
top. It went so smoothly and only took about half an hour. And I was
right - they were
so out of room. I should have done this last week. Bad Beekeeper Linda. But now they have lots of room, an entire box full and then some.
I
would have loved to see the queen, but it's not uncommon to not see
her, so you look for eggs. If there are eggs in there, there's a
queen. I couldn't see any eggs, but that's probably because I forgot my
glasses in the house, so had to use Rhonda's and they're not as strong
as mine. I was also having a hard time seeing how much brood was in the
frames, but thank goodness for Cameraman Rhonda. She got some really
good pictures that, once downloaded, really show how much brood is
there. Relief. MUCH relief. The queen is either still in there or at
least was last week for sure. I'll check on them again next week and
remember my glasses this time. If no eggs then, that means no queen and
I'll have to get another, but that's not likely. I think she's in
there. I just missed her. I need to practice finding her.
I
went out there later in the day and they were back to being their
so-calm-I-can-walk-right-up-to-the-hive selves. So I did. And took
some more pictures.
I also brought them an "I'm
Sorry" gift - two hummingbird feeders full of sugar syrup. I took the
little tray-covers off the bottoms so they can get right down into the
syrup. Nomnomnomnom. I hope they like it.
|
Squinty McSquint. |
|
Honey, honey, HONEY! |
|
Pry out another frame ... |
|
... and look at it ... |
|
... closely ... |
|
... and still closer. That's honey up top, brood below. See the little grubs in the black holes? Cute little boogers. |
|
Got three out. Working on the rest. |
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Lumpy, bumpy drone comb. |
|
FULL. |
|
Pull out another one ... |
|
... and look again. |
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Putting everything back together and squishing some. They got pissed ... |
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... so Rhonda and the dogs backed off, ... |
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... but not before Nellie got hit a time or two. |
|
:) |
~*~
7:30 update: Only a handful hanging around the front door,
not too many more than what's in the pictures here.
I'm glad they're more comfortable now.
I am always scared of honey bees but this seems like fun but at the same time it requires alot of courage and hard work so well done on that. It makes me happy when people attempt something that they loved in their childhood.& btw lovely pictures.
ReplyDeleteWorking with the bees is a very dangerous job. But i am glad to see how perfectly you have handled them.
ReplyDelete