Hi, I'm your new beekeeper! Nice to meet you and you and you and you...

A wise apiarist once said to me, "Let the bees just bee and they will thrive...interact only as necessary to keep them happy, healthy, and productive."  Some may argue that "wise apiarist" is an oxymoron, but that is a whole new post within itself.

A day has passed since I last manipulated the hives.  I worked as diligently as a worker bee Sunday(though Emily would argue I am more like a drone) so I could drive up The Plantation today to check the bees!  "The Plantation" is what Ben calls the plot of land we are using to develop these hives as well as expand his organizations horticultural ventures.  One word to describe today...glorious!  The sun was shining and only a few clouds dotted the sky.  The hives were baking in the sun as all good bee hives love to do.  The water is plentiful nearby and the bees were already hard at work collecting pollen and nectar and growing the hives at their new location.

I took my friend Tim with me this time.  He was able to take a few shots on my camera of what he was surely hoping would be a good old fashion sting fest.  Unfortunately for him today was ideal for me to visit the hive and move some frames around.  Oh yeah, that means I received no stings!

Today was hive introduction and expansion day number one.  Basically I moved all the frames from the NUC to a hive body I had prepared, inserted follower boards into the 10 frame medium hive, and moved two frames to an upper, mostly empty box.  What is a follower board?  A follower board is sometimes called a dummy board.  It is the same size as a frame, but there is nowhere for the bees to build on because it is solid wood.  The idea is that it creates a buffer between occupied frames and the hive body wall and acts like insulation.  It also creates better ventilation in the hive and gives the bees a place to chill that is not directly on the drawn comb.  In short, this is my effort to maximize the queens ability to lay close to the edge of the hive and allow for less boxes to be used solely for brood (where baby bees come to...well...bee!).  Also, a well ventilated hive means a happy and healthy colony!

I put the top back on the NUC since I could not find the queen.  This means that she is either still in the NUC or in the new hive (hopefully).  I will find out next time when all of the bees are in one or the other location.  I will probably go back out tomorrow just to take a peek at how they are doing after all the commotion today.  This does, however, bring us back to the opening of this posting.  I will not be manipulating the bees at all, just observing...so no worries there.

Enough talk...enjoy the pictures!

This is a scene as we left today.  You can see the irrigation channel in the background.

 

This was a true test...did I seal up the hives tight enough?  Needless to say I drove with my beekeeper's veil right next to me (just in case).

Moving from the NUC to the new hive body.

The leftovers in the NUC...can you see the queen?  I sure didn't.

Brenhan apparently does not use frame foundation.  I must read more about this technique before employing it.

Another shot of the medium hive with entrance reducer and "queen includer".

The first time I opened the hives...11 p.m. after an hour drive.  Next scene is me running to the car...

Removing Frames to expand the hive and also install follower boards.

Yum!  Look at all that comb!

One last shot at the hives before we left to celebrate Memorial Day.

Until next time, remember to bee kind to your neighborhood pollinators!

Let's Bee-gin

The first rule in beekeeping is you don't talk about beekeeping.  The second rule in beekeeping is you don't talk about beekeeping.

JUST KIDDING!  As a matter of fact, it should be quite the opposite.

Welcome to my blog.  It is devoted to getting information out there about what is entailed in becoming an amateur (hobby) apiarist (beekeeper). 

A little bit about me...I love flying and sugar!  Mix the sweet with the altitude and what do you have? Apis mellifera L,  or better known as the honeybee.  When people find out that I am taking up the gentle hobby of beekeeping they first ask if I am allergic.  Then they proceed to tell me all about their own allergies and how much they love honey and expect me to inform then when I get my first batch.  I don't think that I am allergic.  I got stung yesterday while picking up the bees.  Did it hurt?  A little.  Poor worker bee gave its life in the defense of her home and way of life.  Now that is admirable.  In all honesty, I just love honey and saving the world.  Once I found out that the first apiarists were Germans, I was sold!

Oh, I forgot to mention, I have just picked up my bees!  It was a long process getting here (8 months long!).  First I read a few books about the topic and started to plant the idea in my bee-autiful wife's head that we should keep bees!  Emily is "allergic" to bee stings.  She swells up pretty bad when stung (a pretty normal reaction).  She is worried about multiple stings...understandably.  In short, I am working the hives and she is awaiting the product for bottling and candle-making.  Em and I took a class at the Fairchild Gardens about beekeeping.  The man who taught the class really just got me more excited about beekeeping.  Then I went away to learn how to fly a new plane and I started to work on a new location to keep the bees.  No, we are not keeping them in our backyard...ref Emily's reaction and also look up "really pissed neighbors when they get stung from having bees in close proximity to their house".  So I teamed up with a man named Ben and we are working in partnership with my bees and his organization's garden!

Next I purchased a bunch of equipment from Dadant and Sons.  It was expensive because of shipping costs...but hopefully I will recoup the cost with the sale of honey and other products.  In short, if you have the room and equipment to make your own boxes and equipment...do it!

Now I got the bees.  They are Italians.  I purchased a complete 10 frame medium Langstroth hive (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langstroth_hive) and a 5 frame medium Nucleus Hive (NUC) from Brendhan of Bee Barf Apiaries in West Palm Beach.

I will write more about the equipment and why I am doing things this way with all medium hive bodies, but I think this post has been long enough.  Thanks for reading and make sure you bee kind to you neighborhood pollinators!