Bees, Year 2 begins

We got our new crop of bees this morning; my wife drove down in the middle of the night to meet the bee guy at like 6 in the morning or something. I slept through that part, so I’ll spare the details. The Clearwater Apiary also picked up a pair of packages — 4 hives between us should keep everyone on their toes this year.

There was a spray of sunshine around 4pm, so we decided to get the bees installed before it decided to start raining again.

Hives East and West, about to rise again.

Hives East and West, about to rise again.

This time, we were able to give the hives a good start; 2 full frames of honey each, as well as 6 frames of pre-built foundation. The bees will need to do a little cleanup, but otherwise, they should be off and running as soon as they run the marshmallow gauntlet.

Each of us took a hive and installed it individually — without loss of generality, I took Hive East. Things went pretty smoothly — I got most of the bees out of the package and into the hive. The only rub was that I couldn’t get the cork out, so I had to push it in, and then load the queen box sideways so it wouldn’t block the exit. Hive West went together without any difficulty.

We are trying frame feeders this year. I have the syrup built, but haven’t installed it yet, because it’s still a little warm. I think they’ll be OK with the honey for a day or two.

Be well, Hive East and Hive West!

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