For those that don't know, I lost two packages of bees at two different times last year. Both times the weather was 30 degrees and 40 mile per hour winds when I placed them in the hive....not good. This year it was 57 degrees, very light wind, and sunny. All the bees found their way into their respective hives (the hive with the scent of their queen) and things are looking good! I was much more relaxed this year knowing a bit more of what I was doing. ......Here's to a good honey harvest! (Or any harvest
for that matter. :-)
.....dr momi
Linked To: Farm Photo Friday
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| Buzzzzzzzz They were hungry and loud. |
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| Here's one of the queens. She seemed very healthy. The rest of the bees are "Italians" and the queen is "Carniolan". |
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| One of the hives will be the top bar hive again. |
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| And the other I'm going to try the traditional hive. Beekeeper Mike is borrowing me a hive to try this year. It will be fun to compare them. |
For those that don't know, I lost two packages of bees at two different times last year. Both times the weather was 30 degrees and 40 mile per hour winds when I placed them in the hive....not good. This year it was 57 degrees, very light wind, and sunny. All the bees found their way into their respective hives (the hive with the scent of their queen) and things are looking good! I was much more relaxed this year knowing a bit more of what I was doing. ......Here's to a good honey harvest! (Or any harvest
for that matter. :-)
.....dr momi
Linked To: Farm Photo Friday
21 comments:
Phew - how did you know that bee was the queen? sandie
Sandie....she comes in that little wire cage. I put a marshmallow in the end hole, and then hang the whole thing in the hive. The other bees will eat the marshmallow in 3-4 days and release her. By then they will love her -- before that they might kill her. :-)
How exciting! We are adding three new hives this year to what we have. Our scheduled pick-up is next Saturday!!
That's so cool! Something I've thought would be fun to do. Look forward to reading all about it.
Oh my goodness, I never knew about the marshmallow and cages... the things you LeARN! I would love to have beehives here, but maybe that will come in another year or two (loaned beehives, that someone is taking care of!) :-) Brava, Dr. Momi!
I enjoyed bees when I had them, but there wasn't all the problems with them back then, and there were still bee trees in the woods. BTW, you missed a perfect chance to tell CC that it was the little crown that was the give-away with the queen!
hoping they stay put and thrive for you!
Woohoo! We've got our first hive this year and it was miraculously in the 60s the day we installed them. 3 cheers for decent weather! :)
Here's hoping for a bumper honey crop! It sounds as though the weather conditions were much more favorable this year.
So interesting about the marshmellow and the queen! I'm so glad you had a good day to do this. I'm sure it will pay off. :)
Very interesting to know . It has been sometime since we had a bee hive farm around ,my brother did it once ,but than there is practically nothing that he hasn't done or tried growing ,including "popcorn"-there newest endeavor is a huge grape fields for wine harvesting ,hmmm ,me thinks to much alcohol has already seen the better days of this family,just saying.....
Lisa....3 new ones to what you have--wow! You must be selling the honey then?? Will be looking for posts and pictures :-)
pattib....come on Patti jump right in! That's what I did last year. I ordered the bees and learned the rest afterward lol.
Mary Ann....years ago a beekeeper I knew, put his hives on our land. What a great garden we had those years (oh the pumpkins!) We got the benefit of the bees and some honey. It was a good deal!
Gorges Smythe....my husband isn't too impressed if we have to buy bees every year. Very few hives around our area make it through the winter, whether it is colony collapse or just weak bees that can't make the winter, we aren't sure. If we get any amount of honey this year, we may end up doing the bees every other year. ....ahhh, I did miss the chance to say there was a little crown LOL!
Tex....I'll take all the blessings I can get! Thanks!
Rae....I'm so glad you had good weather too. Yeah for 1st years! I can't believe how much more relaxed I was this year. Here's to learning new skills!
Candy C. ....Thanks! I'm sure that's part of the reason I was more relaxed this year. I wasn't freezing and the bees could find their way back to the hive before they froze lol.
Jill....Beekeeper Mike that loaned me the one hive, guarenteed me I'd have a great year....lol, we'll see.
judy....sound like your brother has lots of skills :-)
Good luck with the bees. Will you get honey in time to enter it in the fair? I don't know anything about bees - except they sting. Blessings from Ringle.
Wishing you the best with your bees. Please keep us updated...I can't have bees as husband is allergic to them.
Wishing you lots of luck with your bees. Our biggest problem up here is getting them to make it over the long, and usually cold, winter. All of ours made it this year no doubt due to the very mild winter weather. Here's hoping for a good spring, summer, and fall season for all our bees.
Dicky Bird....I'll have to look into honey as a fair entry...I don't remember seeing any at our fair, but there must be! (I don't know a whole lot yet, but I'm learning!)
Cindy....I'm hoping none of my grandkids are allergic to bees. We have the bees way out in the orchard so I think it's far enough away from all our outside activities. These bees seem exceptionally calm, hope they stay that way.
Mama Pea....same here with the long winters. Some beekeepers hives made it this year here too. And in fact they are splitting hives. I can only hope for next year :-)
What a learning! You are brave...I'll buy honey from the cop0op!...:)JP
Oh, I hope they do well! Bees are on our list too, and I've been especially interested in the top bar. I'll be interested in how the two hives work for you and what you think.
I forgot to tell you I love your green and yellow house ,its just so darn cute
This is something I have always wanted to try. Thanks so much for posting about it. I have a lot to learn and love hearing - especially about mistakes.
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