Beekeeping...for those interested!

[Farmfresh]

My Grandma Nettie was like that! She sure must have been sweet.

We could sit on the porch with Grandma and no body would have any bug problems EXCEPT for her. Every bug in for miles, Bees included, would chase her. She was just lucky I guess.

 

[the simple life]

Bee, are you talking about Drapers Super Bee? That's where I ordered my package from, except they are local to me! I'm going to pick them up this Friday. And a lamb too, so I'll be driving for 2 1/2 hours in a tiny car with a lamb and 3lbs of bees. Wish me luck!

The lady at Drapers said their bees are a carniolan strain. I think if I have to requeen in the future, I'll buy a Russian queen. I really wanted a Russian package, but I couldn't find any that would ship and still had any.

Has anyone had trouble putting the foundation in their frames? The wax is about an inch taller than the frame, should I just cut it off and put the bottom bar on? Am I supposed to fold it somehow?

I use foundationless frames only so I have never dealt with the wax sheets but are you sure you have the right size wax for the right size frame.
You may have shallow wax and a medium frame or something like that or you may not be bringing the sheet all the way down to the very bottom of the frame.

 

[Iceblink]

You may have shallow wax and a medium frame or something like that

Yup, I just realized that they sent me too many for my medium supers, and none for my shallow supers. Oh well, I can just cut it off.

 

[Beekissed]

Guess what? Beekissed's gots BEES!!!!!! :bun

I tried to have one of my boys take pics as I was putting them in the hive but everyone forgot to take pics in all the excitement.

They are beautiful bees from Draper's Apiary, all arrived very healthy with only a few bees DOA. There was even one clinging to the outside of the box!(We named her Carlita ) The queen was beautiful and very active with a few attendant bees already in the cage with her...is this common?

The package instructions said to feed comb honey or sugar water, so we opted for the honey. When I opened the bowl next to the box of bees, thousands of little black tongues poked through the screen! It was so darn cute!

We brushed the screen with honey several times today and left the bees somewhere cool and dark until I could install them this evening. Unfortunately, I forgot to inform my oldest son who got quite a surprise when he went to take a shower..... We then decided that the bees could be more cool in the cellar.....

The transfer went okay and I was pretty nervous. When I checked them right after dusk, the humming in the hive was very soft and steady....I'm supposing this is a good thing? I certainly hope so!

P.S. The post office was so very glad when I picked up my delivery this morning.....

 

[Old Sew'n'Sew]

P.S. The post office was very glad when I picked up my delivery this morning......

I will tell DH about this one. He will be happy that people around here only mail ramps. and receive chicks. (DH works in P.O.)

 

[bibliophile birds]

WAY TO GO BEE!!!!

sounds like everything is good. that nice soft humming is the sound of a happy hive.

the two places i can no longer go without receiving strange looks and weird comments are 1) the Post Office and 2) US Foods (the giant food distribution place.

the Post Office has received bees and chicks for me and now when i come in, even just to get some stamps, the ladies get this nervous twitch like they are about to be tortured. i think boxes that buzz make PO workers VERY nervous, since not all of them have bees in them...

the US Foods people now call me "that bee girl," because i go in there and buy 300 lbs of sugar in the winter. my grandmother ever so helpfully told them that it was for feeding bees when she made the first order and now THEY give me funny looks.

sometimes you can't win.

but picking bees up at the PO is better than having the UPS guy deliver them. he already regrets being our driver. one day Gus wants to eat him and the next day he wants to go for a ride in the truck. the poor man never knows what to expect! bees would put him over the edge, for sure.

 

[bjmstahl]

Beekissed,

Bees are fascinating creatures. The workers are all female. The drones or males only have one function. Go figure! And the queen has only one job. Laying eggs. About a thousand a day. She doesn't feed herself or groom herself. That is why she had attendants in the cage with her. You are going to love having bees. This summer you can watch them in your yard and garden busy collecting nectar and pollen and this winter you can put your ear against the boxes and hear the soft hum of your bees as they wait for spring. Good luck and enjoy!

 

[noobiechickenlady]

Awesome!! That's so cool about them sticking their tongues through the screen to lap up the honey.
I have yet to open my hive since the swarm moved in, but they are steadily coming & going & buzzing around the yard.

 

[Rebecka]

Beekissed , how funny! We got our bees yesterday too! OMG.. so exhilarating. They are so darned cute! We got a nuc. They were so sweet and easy to install in their new home. Same with us, we had a camera on hand, but we were so excited we forgot too

 

[Beekissed]

That is so neat, Rebecka! What are the odds? And I thought they were cute also...of course, the boys thought I had lost my marbles calling bees cute but they were just so.....golden and helpless in that little box......

.....until I checked on them this morning and a lone bee was the only one in sight.... I'm assuming it was a guard bee because it immediately zoomed towards me in a very direct way.

I didn't stick around to check its employee badge~I beat a hasty retreat!

bibliophile, I had read that this soft humming was a good thing but its always nice to hear an experienced beek confirm it. I left the shipping box in the hive so that the other bees could vacate it....now I have to retrieve it!

bjmstahl, I think this is why I find bees so fascinating....a female dominated community! It really kind of mimics life, in a way.....the women do all the real work while the guys have to be fed and are only good for breeding. I just wish we humans could follow through and kick them out before winter arrives!!!!


Sure wish I could have just closed the lid and left them to their own devises until I got up the nerve to check them later. I have always had a deep fear of bees, so this is a monster step for me....it was all I could do not to run madly~ swatting desparately~ when I transferred them to the hive! My family has often joked about my fear of bees, as I am pretty much not afraid of anything else.

I have wide swaths of white, red and yellow clover in the garden just waiting for their little bee kisses!