Bees 2, Beekeeper 0

I was standing to the side of the hive this afternoon, and well... I was actually leaning on the top as I enjoyed listening to the ping ping of the rebel bees trying to use their bottom door. I was also leaning over towards the front of the hive watching the bees come and go. AND because I was disregarding every rule of safe beekeeping, I even had on a black long sleeved t-shirt which was layered under a lighter short sleeved t-shirt. AND of course I wasn't wearing my veil when a guard bee came up to investigate me, getting tangled up in my bangs.

I am not the least bit surprised that it stung me in the forehead.

First Peek

Took a first peek into my own hive today to ensure the queen was released and to get a feel for the overall health of the hive. The queen is out and probably under this cluster in the photo. All looks well to me.

The larger gap created by having the queen cage installed allowed for a nice view of the light cream wax combs being drawn out from the black foundations.

Also swapped out the screen used on the bottom board. I had initially placed two layers of 1/4" hardware cloth offset by half in an attempt to make 1/8" openings but as hardware cloth is not exactly square, some openings were of the desired size while others were either too small or too large. The bees quickly found the larger openings to be just large enough for to use as another entrance to the hive. After replacing the screen with one of the correct size, I could hear the ping, ping of the rebel bees against the metal hardware cloth as they still tried to use the "bottom door".

Productive Weekend for the Hive

While the overnight temps were quite cool this first weekend home for the bees, the days were sunny with a nice breeze. The trees currently in full bloom as evidenced by the yellow pollen covering the vehicles, deck, sidewalk, etc. I was tickled to see the field bees returning to the hive with their pockets full of two different colors of pollen. One was a pretty vanilla-cream color with the other a bright orange. I can't wait for my first peek into the hive to see how they've got it stored!

The Party Drone

Checked in on the hive as I headed out for my morning exercise. Spotted there on the front, and as still as could be from the cool temperature, was a lone drone. I had to chuckle! It was almost as if he was caught out too late after curfew and couldn't get in. :-)

Actually, this drone is in a chill-coma. Chill coma occurs when the temperature is such that the bee can no longer warm itself. In this state the bee appears dead but as the temperature increases the bee, too, will warm and eventually return to normal activity.

By the time I returned from my run the sun was up a bit and the drone had moved on. Many bees were flying around the front of the hive, up and down, side to side, orientating themselves to the hive's location. All seems well with the apiary!

Bees 1, Beekeeper 0

Spent today just waiting for the workday to end so that I could get home and install the bees. The late afternoon was calm and not too warm. The girls were clustered nicely in the cool of the garage and were given a bit of sugar water to fill their bellies and keep them satisfied during the transfer to their new home. Not one to worry about getting stung, I didn't think twice that my shirt wasn't all that loose. At least it was bee-friendly white. The fit of the shirt, however, would come back to haunt me...

Extracting the queen cage was simple enough. There were a number of attendants with her and the sugar plug was still going strong. I easily set her up attached to a frame. But removing the can of sugar water was a bit difficult as sat down in the box a bit. While slowly lifting it clear of the opening, I got my first taste of how quickly those little bees can wiggle through the smallest of spaces! But so far, so good. All was proceeding exactly as expected until what came next...

I have not read anything about this nor was it ever mentioned in the Short Course what happens when you gently tap the box in order to get the bees down in the bottom and ready to dump into the hive. The sound of the collective buzz put me on alert that this seems like one angry box of bees and I'm supposed to open it up and then dump them loose? Well, okay...

The second I removed the covering I found myself standing in a swirl of pissed off bees. That didn't bother me so much until I realized that my shirt was not as loose as I had hoped and I got stung on the arm. Now, a bee sting really does not hurt all that much. Frankly, I'm troubled more from the discomfort of a tick bite than I am the bee sting, and I'm suffering from both at the moment.

While I paused that millisecond, wondering how many more stings I was about to get through my shirt, my husband took off shouting something about the black hat he was wearing. I was so focused on getting the bees installed that I didn't give a thought as to what he may be wearing - he was only the photographer, after all.

I really wasn't as disturbed by the swirling mass of angry bees as I was interested in how many more bees were still in the box and how easy it was to dump them onto the queen cage and into the hive. I installed the rest of the frames, filled the top feeder, put the lid on and placed the entrance reducer in the opening. Bees installed: Done!