Bees moving in ..

[Camile]

Hello,

Here are a few pictures from the arrival of the new "livestock" ..

The OH came back on friday evening with this in the trunk of the car:


so far nothing too worrying .. except that:


the mesh blocking the hole on top (using for a feeder, with is sugar mixed with water) is fine enough for them to have their head through .. but luck enough they can't escape !

So the hive had been set up the night before, in an idyllic spot which seems to be a very old pathway in between fields:



We can see the bit of foam that was blocking the door on the side ..


And basically the nucleus (smaller box) has to be left at the exact spot of where the hive will go .. because bees are fussy, you could move the hive within a 1 ft or so without problems, but further than that and they won't find it anymore .. and the solution is then to move the hive 3 miles away from the original spot and only then they will find it again .. so we took the easy option of setting it on top of the hive.

And the thing is crowded, the bee keeper that helped us wanted me to stand on front of the hive to take the pictures .. even though I was the only one without a suit . guess what I answerred



The thing is crowded, about 30/40 thousands bees in there .. and full capacity will reach the 50 thousands or more ..

You need to leave the nucleus to settle for a day or two, so this morning the OH should have normally moved the frames from the nucleus into the hive. Apparently you have to find the queen from the nucleus frames, and shake it gently into the hive .. she will then attract all the others once you move the rest of the frames ...

Some bees will stand in front of the hive to call the others ...

And no stings so far ...

Camile

[ina]

Congratulations! Fascinating, bees, aren't they!

[glenniedragon]

Congrats on the bees! they really are fascinating- I've been told that if you keep bees for 3 years, you'll be keeping them for life! Here's to the honey harvest!!

kind thoughts
Deb

[Meredith]

It is very exciting isn't it?

I got my first nucleus of bees three weeks ago. I still can't stop myself from keep going down the garden on bee watch to see them flying in and out.

Here's to a plentiful supply of honey.

Meredith.

[Camile]

Thanks ..

Indeed they are fascinating creatures ..

and indeed it's hard to resist going checking every minutes ..

and yesterday we transferred them into the hive (but you don't shake the queen off like I thought) ..



The sealed cells are filled with honey, the yellow ones at the center are brood cells .. so it's a sign that you have a productive queen:




And you have to put the frames from the nuc in the same order as you took them otherwise you are completely messing up the nest



Can you spot the queen in the picture ?


Camile

[Thurston Garden]

Congratulations! We would love to keep bees, but can't afford the money to get started When there is money, there's always something more important which needs attention at the time!

I do think it will be an addictive hobby though...a neighbour started with 3 hives a couple of years ago. He now has just over a dozen!