May 29...moving the bees into their new homes day! I barely slept the night before. I went over and over the steps I would take the next morning. I knew that the weather forecast was for rain and overcast and that made me nervous. It's better to work with the bees when it's sunny since they are out working instead of hanging around with nothing to do but get ornery with a new bee keeper! I made up some sugar water syrup to give them to give them a head start (1/3 sugar to 2/3 water) and waited until the sun came out. Thankfully, it came out at 10:30 am and I was off!
I put on the beekeeping jacket with hood. I started the smoker...with lots of help from Bill...and then we started it again. Finally, it was smoking and I brought out the hives. They are painted a lovely blue since I read that bees like blue a lot. The hives have pictures of their respective queens (see posting #1) drawn on them. Apparently bees can recognize images (up to four symbols) so this should help them recognize their own hive.
Side note: the bee jacket with hood up is bloody hot! Add gloves, boots and heavy pants...need I say more?
Here is a series of pictures taken by Bill of me, new bee keeper moving the bees from their cardboard box to the hives. I gave each hive a little smoke to let them know I was coming but they were all so gentle and uninterested in me, I'm not sure they needed it at all.
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| Pouring syrup into feeder in hive |
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| Using the hive tool to loosen frame |
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| First frame of bees! |
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| Look at those bees! |
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| And add the lid to Queen Hippolyta. One done! |
So they are both installed into their lovely blue hives. I can start breathing again. Whew! Now for breakfast.
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