Saturday, March 14, 2009

Bee Update


I am officially a beekeeper now and not just the photographer. Glenn and I switched roles today as I felt ready to take on the challenge of opening the hive. I tried to keep my nerves under control as I put on my bee hat and gloves. As I puffed smoke into the top of the hive, the sound of a thousand bees buzzing filled the air. Bees are gentle. I had to remind myself of that fact every couple of seconds. And they were. We inspected the top portion of the hive and could not find our old queen. There was a little bit of honey storage but no brood. We decided to remove the queen excluder (separating the top hive from the bottom hive). The bottom portion of the hive was filled with brood and a few open queen cells. Glenn is assuming we have a new queen and she is establishing herself. After I realized the bees were not going to attack me, I started to enjoy watching them work. We even saw a bee doing a “bee dance” which we have yet to see (or recognize) on the outside of the hive.


We also found our bees on our pluot tree today! Its flowers smell like sweet tarts so I am not surprised our bees were able to find it. Glenn is thrilled because our fruit trees have to be cross pollinated.

6 comments:

  1. Jess, Good for you! How cool! We women beekeepers have to stick together... Julia

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  2. Beautiful photos! I am so glad I discovered your blog. I secretly hope to be a beekeeper myself someday. :) I've added you to my notable blogs of the week roster.

    Have a great day!

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  3. Congratulations, Jess! How exciting! I think I would feel the same as you did the first time around. I wish I could keep bees, but as it is I must live precariously through your stories and know that there's people around who care about our beloved honey bees.

    Thanks for sharing! I love your blog!

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  4. I found your blog today and wanted to say "Hello." I will be getting my bees this Spring and it is nice to "meet" someone else whe is a keeper, especially another woman:-)

    Your story of Bea and Honey is so sweet. I am glad you took little Bea, for she may not have made it if left there.

    I have added you to my sidebar, I hope that is OK.

    Rhonda

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  5. Your weather looks so nice and spring like. We had a couple warmer days but right now it's snowing again (in Ontario, Canada). I love your photos.

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  6. I finally got back to my blog today. So nice to meet you Doug, Rhonda and Hot Belly Mama. And lovely to hear from my beekeeping and bee loving friends too!

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