1st hive is now open

I just got back form taking grass out of the entrance.  We also learned we need a smoker.  We saw the queen was released and bees are doing well.  We lit the smoker for the first time gong to do the second hive after lunch ( ;

Dropped the queen cage in the bottom of the hive and we had to fish it out.

The bees have been hived!

My dad and I bringing the bees out.  We picked them up Friday night and kept them in the cabin all night.

Taking the queen out of the package.  I'm holding my hand over the hole so the bees don't fly out.

Queen in her special case.  She comes in her own cage so the other bees get used to her.  We removed the cork and put a marshmallow in the hole.  Then the bees eat the marshmallow and release the queen.

Dad spraying syrup on the frames while I get the bees ready to dump in.

Taking the plug out of the queen case.  We then plugged it with a mini-marshmallow.  It will take the bees about 3 hours to get her out

 

Dumping bees into the hive

It was hard to get the bees to go in the hive.  Had to knock them in.

Moving the bees so we can get the frames it.  You can't see it very well but there were about 3-4 inches of bees in a big pile in the bottom of the hive.

Putting feeder on hive.  Tomorrow I'll check to see if they are under the feeder.



Closed the hive.  We will check it tomorrow.  Hopefully it warms up.  It was about 38 F when we put the bees in.  Some of them got cold and didn't make it.

we just got the bees in the hive. it was fun! : ) hope u have a nice day

The Bees have arrived!

The bees arrived early.  We got 2 - 3 pound packages of bees.  They like to cling to the walls of the package.  There were about 15 bees outside of the package so dad now has bees in his car : }.  We will be driving up to Hinckley tonight and will install them tomorrow.

Ready for bees

Dad, my brother, and I put some linseed oil on the inside of the hives on Sunday.  Our neighbors were curious about what we were doing and they stopped over to visit.  I showed them all the bee stuff and the parts of a bee hive.  They thought it was a nice bee hive and were excited that the bees would probably pollinate their flowers.

My dad and mom setup the electric fence to keep the bears out of the bee yard on Saturday.  We didn't have a fence tester and none of us wanted to test it by touching it.  It makes noise so we think it will work.  If you are interested in testing the fence for us, let me know.  We have seen Black Bears up there in the past.  Bears coming out of hibernation in the spring are especially hungry for honey and bees. 

We saw our first bee while we were showing the neighbors our hives.  It was a honeybee and it landed on one of the hive frames so we took a picture.

My first honeybee visitor

First wasp coming to rob the hive

Me explaining the hives to Gary and Gail

My putting linseed oil in the hives.  This is supposed to help with mites.

Me and my brother Cole in the Bee yard.

Let me know if you like my Blog.   My bees should show up on Saturday morning and I'm excited to start beekeeping!  I plan to record my activities in the blog.

Ready for the bees!

Zander found out today that his bees will arrive a week from today.  Thanks to the good weather we had a chance to finally get the electric fence installed.  "Sparky" is setup and ready to keep curious bears away from the bees.  We also setup the hives and he's now ready to bring in the bees.

Here is a picture or two of the setup:

 

Spring sprung?

Last weekend Zander and I moved the beehive stand out to the location he decided on.  The snow was almost gone.  This weekend the snow made another cameo appearance.  Fortunately the bees don't arrive for another couple of weeks.  Zander's two packages of bees are on the second load and that is scheduled to be delivered on May 1st. 

Zander's beehives have their second coat of paint on them and everything is ready to go except the electric fence to keep the bears out.  The ground is still frozen so we are hoping for some warm weather to we can get the grounding rods down and the fence posts up.  Zander is looking forward to the second half of his Beekeeping class next Saturday.  If all goes well, he will get a chance to watch the instructor install a package of bees and learn what to do with them for the first few weeks.  Our freezer has a couple of pollen patties in it so we can make sure the bees have something to eat until the flowers come out.

Here is the latest picture of Zanders "Apiary":