Bee Homecoming

The bee keepers

Yesterday we welcomed two new starter hives.  And it was the first time I got to help Don work the bees.  Really work the bees.  Not just standing on the sideline cheering and picture taking.

Clean and pretty new gloves

It's not that I'm afraid of bees, particularly.  But we only could get one suit when we first started out...and since Don is bigger and stronger...he was the obvious choice to get a proper suit first.

We had done a quick assessment of the 2 hives we had going into winter last year this past February, and found that one (the original hive from 2012) had died off.  That hive never did well...especially in comparison to last year's new hive.

Don suggested we make a better, more hands on assessment of the remaining hive before we went to get the new ones...mostly to let me practice doing bee cares with less agitated bees.  A good idea on the whole.

The passing of the torch hive tool

So....the things I know (personally) about (our) bees:

1. These girls put propolis everywhere.  And I mean everywhere!
2. Hive boxes are heavy.  Too heavy for me to safely pick up.
3. Brush, never swat at insects of any kind.*
4. Move slowly and enjoy what you're doing.
5. Bees rock.
6. The queen is always in the last place you look. :P
7. Using a smoker isn't always necessary.

Working the "old" hive

The old hive was in pretty good condition.  Though it took forever to find our queen.  Last year, the queen sported a pretty green dot on her thorax.  The queen we have now has no markings of any kind.  Did the paint wear off?  Or did they revolt and a new queen was grown to replace the old?

All hail the Queen

 Larvae, capped brood and honey, and healthy looking workers! :)

Satisfied that everything is going well for the sisters, we buttoned up the hive and made ready to go and get the starter hives.

I didn't take many pictures of the new girls...I was busy rearranging frames and inspecting them.  It went so fast--almost anticlimactic.  

Setting up the new hives

It was a lot of fun getting to help DH with the bees.  I wasn't kidding about the propolis...I even managed to smear my camera with the sticky stuff...

Gloves all broken in, now...along with my poor camera

* I honestly never needed to do any swatting.  Just putting it out there as a reminder for...you know...wasps.  I *&^% hate wasps.