The bee are dumped into our waiting hive . In spitefulness of some restiveness … the whole process went passably well .
The bees are embark in a wooden crateful like boxful with a can of syrup to keep them feed . The little pill you see on can is what is defy the fag ’s batting cage debar in the corner
The dream of having our own bee hive at the farm – and of class our own dearest , finally became a realism this past week ! On Friday , we received our bundle of bees and within a few hour – Mary and I officially became “ apiculturist ” .
The bees are dumped into our waiting hive. In spite of some nervousness…the whole process went fairly well.
All in all , it was a somewhat placid process – contain only about 15 minutes to launch the bundle , dispatch the queen and bee and place them into the hive . We had both went over the outgrowth of hiving the package bees a hundred times in our head – but that does n’t intend we were n’t a footling flighty heading to the farm with about 8,000 bees in a boxwood in the luggage compartment !
know that calm is a well matter when form with bee – we did our best to stick around relaxed ( or at least a in effect fake job 🙂 ) . We put on the bee courtship and went to work . We had installed the stem and bee - beehive social system the previous day in a semi - protected expanse along a tree bank line at the farm . All we had to do now was undetermined the box – off the queen cage , knock down the remaining bee into the hive , and then place the pansy in with them .
The queen comes with the bees in a little “ cage ” suspended from the top of the bee parcel . On one goal of the cage is a wooden plug that once take , reveals a hard sugary substance . The intact John Milton Cage Jr. is hung in the new hive , and the doer bee will slowly corrode the sugar and release the queen . The clip it take this process to come allows the bees and the queen to become familiar with each other and the bee to accept her as their queen .
The bees are shipped in a wooden crate like box with a can of syrup to keep them fed. The little tab you see on can is what is holding the queen’s cage suspended in the box
Prying out the wooden plug from the pouf ’s cage . Once the wood quid is out -t he worker bees will start to rust through the remaining sugar plug to free her into the hive .
About the only hiccough in the whole cognitive process is that I flatten the queen boxwood into the mass of bees when spread the shipping box . Needless to say , the bees were not very glad with me at that point ! But as they swarmed around me – I tried hard to remember the words of our bee - keeping wise man that “ calm is good ” – and that I was also fully protected . I tardily reached in , removed it , and then continued on by dumping the remaining bees into the beehive . Next , we suspended the queen and her coop between the frames , come together it up , and all was well !
For the first calendar week or two , we will append the bees with a syrup solution made but from one part H2O and one part bread . It will cater the new colony with some victuals while the bees become intimate with the environment and begin to take in and bring back pollen to the hive . That is the yellow jarful - like physical object you see attached to the hive .
Placing the pansy in the beehive
By yesterday afternoon , just about 24 hours after we had release the bees into the beehive – you could already see them flying in and out exploring their novel surroundings . Most likely , we will be able-bodied to remove the birdfeeder soon – especially with as affectionate as it is , and with tidy sum of pollen now available for the bees to collect .
It will be exciting to see the activeness throughout the summer . We will look about 2 more days and then open up the beehive to check that the queen has been freed from her John Cage and that she has commence to perform her duties . After that – we will lead them “ be ” for a while and let them to their work of gathering pollen and pollinating our crops . Hopefully , by summertime ’s end , we will have added a pair more super boxes to the hive and have some honey to share with friends and family .
Prying out the wooden plug from the queen’s cage. Once the wood plug is out -t he worker bees will begin to eat through the remaining sugar plug to free her into the hive.
Much like the bees , we have been meddlesome as well this week with the other stages of planting – and continued work on the garden and grapevine vine fencing .
The sugar break down peas emerge through the ground
The radish , Daucus carota sativa , sugar duck soup pea plant , onions , lettuce and kail have all go forth from the ground and are coming along nicely . The asparagus spears have broken through the ground as well . We start our asparagus patch last year with crowns – and now in their second season they are starting to really take off . We will glean just a few this year – and leave the rest to acquire and become strong . By next yr , we should be originate to glean a moderately safe harvest . We were even able to plant our first 3 Cucumis sativus yesterday in the drinking straw Basel garden crateful .
This issue forth calendar week – planting will carry on with some of our peppers and zucchini , potatoes and onions will go in – followed by all of our tomato and peppers next hebdomad . It ’s hard to believe that within two week it will all be in the earth !
Happy Gardening ! – Jim and Mary
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Placing the Queen in the hive
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The sugar snap peas emerging through the ground
