Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Easter Bees...

I've always thought honey bees were very cool and Sean encouraged me to pursue my interest. So, I did and I discovered the Hampden County Beekeepers Association. I've been going to beekeeping school since January. Sean was even able to join me a few times when he wasn't in NYC rehearsing for the CudLife Tour (coming soon to a city near you). We've both enjoyed bee school and have definitely learned a lot. What do I do with all that knowledge? Start a hive of course!




Tom from the HCBA drove all the way down to Georgia to pick up bees for this season's new hives, and on Easter morning the bees had arrived in MA. I was so excited to pick up my package! And I'll be honest, I was a little nervous too. Bees sting you know! It looks like they like me, I made it through the whole day without a single sting!



Here are some pictures...




Our package, in my lap in the car on the way home.Here's the Queen cage. She's not visible but definitely in there. Her name is Elizabeth Woodville.How do you get the bees into the hive? You dump them of course!Look at all those bees!As a first timer, I feel completely comfortable saying the install went great! The only thing I did wrong was forgetting to put an empty super above the bottom brood box when I dumped the bees. I had to put it on after I poured them out, and I managed to do it and only crush one poor little bee. Oops.



So, as we speak, my new bees are working hard to eat through the candy and free their queen. I'm going to leave them to it, but I'll check in on them Wednesday to make sure she is out of her cage and laying them eggs.



I'll post more soon!
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