...feeding the bees

I went by to check on the bees today.  They were busy!  Every 3-4 days for the next several weeks, Rachel and I will have to check the bee's feeders.  The bees consume a diet of 1-1 sugar water.  They will do this until they find a steady food supply in the form of pollen and nectar.  Above is a picture of the feeder.  The feeder is in an empty hive box that sits on top of a hive box containing 8 frames, a queen, and all the bees.  The bees are busy building out the honeycomb in the bottom hive box so that the queen can began to lay eggs. In order to do this, they need to eat.  Their food supply comes from the quart jars you see above.  Each quart jar has tiny holes in the lid that the bee sticks its tongue into to get sugar water.  The bees have consumed a little over 2 quarts of sugar water since Wednesday evening.  On Friday, we are going to inspect the bottom hive box to check for brood (baby bee eggs) and to find Priscilla and Gwenevere.

...hiving the bees

We now have bees in our hives.

The process was pretty straight forward. First, we sprayed the bees down with sugar water. This causes them to huddle together to stay warm. They form a clump of bees and stop flying when you spray them. Next, you remove the queen from the box of bees. They travel in a box with the queen who is in her own box. The bees are now obsessed with her smell after traveling with her all day.

She is laid in the bottom of the hive before the bees are dumped into the hive on top of her.

As the bees come into contact with her, they eat the sugar around her box to free her. Then, they get to work!

Whitney's Bee Movie:

Rachel's Bee Movie:

Our bee EMT:

...primping the hives (part 2)

Butta-yellow. The prettiest bee hives in the world! Our bees are going to be so happy to move into their new homes on Wednesday. That's right...we get our bees on Wednesday afternoon. When Rachel and I decided to do this beekeeper thing, she verbalized some nervousness about working with the bees. It never crossed my mind to be nervous...until last Thursday. On Thursday, we got an email telling us the bees would be here soon. Every time I think about working with the bees, my stomach flip-flops. It is flip-flopping now! I look forward (I hope you will too) to posting pictures on Wednesday night of our first full-contact-bee-taming abilities!

...primping the hives (part 1)

Turns out painting a beehive takes a lot of time. There are several layers of silicone, primer, and paint that need to be put on the hives because they stay out in the elements. On Tuesday night, Rachel and I began painting the hives.

The first step was to apply a silicone to all the rough edges and nail holes. Our mentor informed us that the hives will last 10-15 years longer just by doing this. Who knew?!? Here is the silicone we used:

After the silicone dried, we applied the first layer of primer. We used an oil-based exterior primer. This particular primer was fast dry and is ready for a second coat within an hour. The hives were a little difficult/time consuming to paint. We were told not to paint the insides of the hive so that the bees would not be exposed to the primer.

On the edges of the frames are 2 holes. These are to insert pins to hold the foundation still. The pins can be expensive and are very similarly shaped to bobby pins. Cheap, straight bobby pins are about $1 for 100. Each hive body required 32 pins.

We are waiting for a drier day to complete the painting task. Any guesses on what color we chose for our hives?

...what's in a name

I should address the name of the blog.  Rachel and I drove a lot yesterday.  We started at the bee yard to pick up our hives and then headed to find the rumored bee store in LaFayette, GA.  While driving, I suggested naming all of our bees.  Rachel quickly pointed out that the task would be impossible due to the sheer number of bees that will reside in our hives.  My next suggestion was to name the queen bees.  I immediately named my first queen bee Priscilla.  This name seems fit for a Queen.  Rachel's stately queen is named Gwenevere.  As her name suggests, she will be the more refined of the two queens.  Hopefully, they will be equally successful queen bees!

...preparing the hives

Yesterday, the hives arrived. Rachel and I drove to the future location of the bee yard and picked up our hives.

We also drove to Pigeon Mountain Trading Company to get gloves and bee suits. We decided on pullover jackets with a fencing hood. Rachel's sister suggested the fencing hood due to the tendency for the veiled hood to collapse. We giggled a lot during this shopping trip.

When we got home, we constructed the frames. Each hive box or body consists of 8 frames that are hung from the top of the box. The entire structure has 3 hive boxes. The frames have a beeswax foundation where the bees will start to make honeycomb. Rachel and I placed each beeswax foundation into the wooden frame and secured it.

Our next step will be painting our hives.

...an introduction

First off, you must all meet Rachel.  She is a vital part of this process.  She is the idea person.  During the first weekend of February, Rachel went to her sister's house to celebrate a birthday.  Here, the idea was born.  Rachel helped her sister with her hives and fell in love with the idea of one day having her own hive. 

That's where I come in.  After Rachel mentioned beekeeping to me, I went to google-ing.  Now, it must have been meant to bee (sorry, had to do it) because it just so happened that there was a beekeeping program information session the very next day.  We attended, fell in love, wrote a check for $350, and the rest is history.