Mama Bee and me
Mama bee & Me
After worrying all night about the girls, today is the day we install them into their new hives. I am both nervous and excited...i have spent the last several night reading and re-reading how to install the packages. So here we go...
0 Comments
Finally...after four long months the girls have arrived!!! All week we have been anticipating today. Since no one else would drive over an hour each way and needless to say with 30,000 buzzing bees in the car. Cameron and I had an awesome drive to Polson, MT to pick them up. He even watched "The Bee Movie" on the way down.
Picking them up was super easy as I had prepaid from the last January. Once in the car and on our was home, Cameron noticed a lonely bee on the outside trying to get in the cages with her sisters. Cameron never freaked out or got upset as she sometimes flew around the car only to landed back on the cages...instead he just giggled! Since by the time we arrived home was getting cool and windy we decided to install the girls tomorrow into their new homes. We so excited!!! Well Cameron was really excited today as his bee suit came in the mail today. Of course he had to put it on right away and then when Dad came home in had to put it on again!
He just too darn cute, don't you agree? Well I have finally completed putting together the hives. I must say it was very therapeutic to hammer and bang in those huge nails into the hive boxes. But it was a life saver to have a nail gun when nailing the frames together....80 frames!!!
Cameron and I went to Home Depot to decide on a color to paint the hives boxes. After some back and forth, pro vs. cons..."Mellow Yellow" won! Yes, they are about the same color as my logo of "Mama Bee & Me". At first I thought it was going to be to bright but after getting them out into the field and set-up...I love the color!!! My awesome husband made a over the top hive bench which I love as well. I had considered using cinder-blocks and wood planks, but this is way nicer. (Let me know if anyone would like the dimensions) Wow, how lucky are we. Cameron and I had an opportunity to visit a friends hive today and watch as she installed a new Nuc with 5 frames full of bees. To tell you the truth I was not sure how Cameron would react to the bees and if he would have a nuclear melt down. I brought my full bee suit and a veil for Cameron.
The first thing I noticed with Cameron was that he wanted to listen to the bees in the Nuc box. He put his ear to the box and said "Mom, the bees are singing...I like the sound they make". I really had not notice it before, but bees actually make "white noise", a sound that is very calming and relaxing. Cameron and I suited up and got ready visit the bees. The bees were magical! Cameron at one time had literally thousands flying all around him, He wore only a long sleeve jacket and a veil, no gloves or special pants. At once time he was face to face with the bees watching them bring in pollen. He even got to see the Queen Bee!!! I am just in tears of the magical moment with Cameron and the Bees. He has been so excited that Mommy's bees are coming and know that in just a couple of weeks it will be out turn and our Bees. Enjoy these pictures of my little Bee Whisper, Cameron and myself. OMG...I had no idea that there were so many types, colors, flavors of honey! This afternoon I has an opportunity to Honey Taste over 25 different honeys from all over the world.
The colors alone were like that of beer...a pale ale to dark amber! We were giving a rating sheet to rates the honeys in Color, Aroma, Flavor and Texture. We are also giving a Honey Flavor Wheel from UC Davis. (I have attached a photo of one and a link) Here are some the I tried... Thyme - New Zealand: Wow, a little goes a very long way with this full flavored thyme honey. I could really see it paired with cheeses and as a glaze on meats. Forest Honey - Germany: This dark amber honey has a woody coffee smell and tasted sort of burnt. Beechwood - New Zealand: Amber in color with a sour aroma and a strange sour taste. Buckwheat - This dark amber honey was differently on of my favorites and had a wonderful buckwheat taste. Eucalyptus - California: I was quite surprised with this smooth sweet amber honey. If someone had not labeled it Eucalyptus I would have had not a clue! Meadow Foam - Oregon: This was by far the coolest honey of all. Dark amber color, sweet and a very unique taste. I was told that it usually taste like Marshmallows...but the bees had gotten into some patches of blackberries this year, making the honey taste like Blackberry Marshmallows!!!! YUM! Sunflower - Romania: This very pale colored honey as so mild in sweetness and smooth that I could just imagine it melting on biscuits and toasts. I tried many other such as Tulip, Carrot, Range-land, Avocado, Wildflower, and many local honeys from Montana. I missed over a few that I was told tasted like rubber tires and cat pee! Differently on my idea of honey!!!
Well over the weekend, Ryan and I checked all the hives and due to the weight in Queen Vanessa's hive I was not able to do hive check the past two weeks. Ryan and I both had to lift the top super to get to the bottom and as I was checking the frames I notice that they was not eggs, larvae, or brood! A very big red flag! After going through the entire hive I came to the conclusion that Vanessa was MIA.
One quick phone call to my friend Marty and I would have a new mated Queen the next day, Monday. So I have not a clue why we have lost two Queens this year. I thought on Queen Latifah was that I most likely squished her or injured her while learning how to handle the frames. But, am not sure what happened in Queen Vanessa's hive since I had not checked it in two weeks. So round two....ding...ding! |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
August 2015
Categories |