Yeah, I know. That was a lame little pun, I couldn't help myself. For the last couple of weeks, Hubby has been building new beehives for me. We ordered a nuc that we will have to pick up sometime in May. I am also going to split my hive this spring. The first hive was completed today.
Pretty nice, huh? Here is the old and new hives next to each other. The bees kept flying into the new hive to see if there was anything good in there. I hope they give it up soon so that they don't rob the new bees when I install them in the hive. I think I am going to have to do some research on the subject.
We also opened the existing hive today. This was the first time I ever had help (hubby got his own veil today, hooo hooo!) and I never felt comfortable taking it all apart without an extra set of hands, so this was a first for me. We had some funky architecture going on with some frames. This one was just weird. Loads of brood though, so I know the queen is doing a good job. Look at the little white spots near the bottom, those are larva. Gross little white worm looking things. Those will soon be busy little bees. I also saw a few drones, I still kind of like those guys. I feel bad for them, they are so gentle and sweet.
The queen is in this picture, can you see her?
How about now? She's almost in the middle of the pic
Anyway, all seems to be well in the hive and I am looking forward to fall when I can have my first harvest!
Gracie - check out Pioneer Preppy at http://smallhold-pioneerpreppy.blogspot.ca/ - he knows everything about bees! yours are looking fantastic and i love the new hive! i will be setting out my mason bees soon - ooooh - soooo exciting!
ReplyDeleteKymber, I know all about Pioneer Preppy, I LOVE his bee and garden posts. He has also given me some good advice on my bees before. I actually posted one particular pic in hopes of him seeing it, lol.
ReplyDeleteThanks though, I can always use friends who know what they are doing with the bees, I am still pretty new at it.
I may have to talk to you about the Mason bees. That sounds pretty cool. No honey harvest though, right? Strictly pollination?
ReplyDeleteGreat pics, and you'll enjoy that honey! AND the family will feel better because the honey will help with allergies!
ReplyDeleteGracie - i am glad that you are familiar with PP - he is my go to source for info about honey bees. and yes, you are correct - the mason bees don't produce honey or beeswax but they are the best bee pollinators out there. the really excellent thing is that they spend their entire lives building cocoons in their nest/house. at the end of september most of them die off but have each left 6-7 cocoons in each of the little caves in their nest/house (my nest/house has 76 caves). they keep making cocoons until they die. inside the cocoons are more mason bees than you originally started with and this happens every year. once they have established themselves in their nest/home - they go out looking for a new home and start the process all over again. and they won't go further than 15km so they are always yours in a sense. if you take care of them you can constantly be reproducing more and more pollinators. their are very specific instructions on how to clean and care for the cocoons over winter - but i plan on doing several detailed posts about them.
ReplyDeleteyour friend,
kymber