June 12, 2003
The bees are here!!!
The bees are here!!! Woohoo!! I know that you probably thought that I had gotten them weeks ago, but I only just picked them up tonight. The cool wet weather delayed things somewhat, and Butch, the man I bought them from, did not seem very type A about things . Butch was extremely nice to me, gave me some helpful pointers, and fixed a couple things on my hive box to make it work better (for free), so it was worth the wait.
Butch said that the bees are kindof testy right now. He said after they get used to their queen and she really develops they should settle down.
Peter carried them up to the second floor of the barn for me. They were really heavy though, so I'm going to have to come up with a better system -- either a different place to put them or an easier way of getting them up and down.
I won't be harvesting honey from them this year. First I have to hope that they survive the transition, then I hope that they build a strong community and can put away enough honey to survive the winter, then I have to hope that they actually get through the winter. If they survive the first year, then I can probably harvest honey next year.
That's all from here!
Posted by maryellen at June 12, 2003 09:41 PMSounds like a lot of effort to get the bee hive started. Why do you have to carry the bees or hive up and down?
Posted by: Joe at June 12, 2003 09:59 PMI shouldn't have to carry it up or down very often. Actually hopefully this is the only time. Butch did me a favor by installing the bees in my hive box, but that meant Peter had to carry the whole hive box filled with bees up the stairs. I think if I get bees in the future, I will just install them myself so I won't have to carry the whole hive box up and down.
But then I will eventually need to carry frames of honey around etc. I guess I need to wait and see how much carrying this really involves before I push the panic button!!
Posted by: maryellen at June 12, 2003 10:11 PMHmmmmm...
Bees strike me as Type A's, just like ants.
Curious that Butch, the beekeeper, is not Type A.
But, like they say, Opposites Attract!
Posted by: mike, pgg's dad at June 13, 2003 05:13 AMWhile I am generally supportive of the bee project, I am definitely a little bee-phobic. So when I was carrying the hive up into the barn last night, I was getting sweaty palms at the thought of dropping the hive and getting stung to death. So I, for one, am lobbying for an easier permanent home, or an easier way to move hives around, so we don't have to carry the hives ourselves. But, like everything else around here, we have a lot of experimenting and learning to do.
Posted by: peter at June 13, 2003 09:52 AMOkay. I don't fully understand what is going on here, but, as demostrated previously on this blob, that will not stop me from commenting.
My recommendation is to put the bees out in a field far away from the house. Who wants to get stung?! That hurts.
Are these bees actually in the barn or the house? If so, get 'em out of there.
Posted by: mike, pgg brother at June 13, 2003 12:55 PMYes the bees are on the second floor of the barn, in a window. That's a good place for them because they are really most aggressive right in front of their hive (in defense of their home) and so nothing but air is right in front of their hive. Also, they like to be high up, and they are sheltered some from the weather and from bears and other varmints. (I love bears in general, but with regard to bees they are varmints.)
They were crawling all over the watering place and startling Peter, yesterday, he said. So that's a bummer. But they are really not interested in flying around in the barn -- it's cool and dark in there and there is no pollen or water to gather.
Also, even though Peter saw the bees at the watering spot yesterday, they didn't sting him or anything. Honeybees die when they sting so that's really not something they should be eager to do. When you get stung randomly, it's usually a wasp.
Posted by: maryellen at June 14, 2003 07:08 AM