Well, unlike Richard, I was out of town on business last week when the sun finally peaked out of the clouds so I missed the chance then to move the bees from the nuc to the hive. So on Saturday, which was an absolutely beautiful day, I had my chance. Got all suited up, pant legs tucked into my boots, all set to go... oh yeah - the smoker. Got that filled and some good smoke coming out. And then... it went according to plan. Now that's something new. Didn't really run into any problems at all. Moved a frame, took a couple steps back and waited a bit to keep both myself and the bees calm, moved another, etc. Before I knew it I had moved them all and was closing up the hive. There were a couple of bees trying to get me, but not too bad. There were 5 frames in the nuc and they were all pretty full, so I'm certainly glad I finally got them moved. I'll admit that I was nervous and afterwards wish I took the time to really inspect the frames. I didn't take time to even try and find the queen (which I should have done), but considering it was my first time (and it's a little daunting when you are holding a frame with thousands of bees) I'm pretty happy.
These are going to be some happy bees in their new digs!
So not a single sting... until... about 2 hours after the move I was working on the pool which is a good 40-50 feet away and one bee was just determined to get me. Stung me under the tip of the nose. Oh well, the day wouldn't have been complete without one sting at least. and honeybee stings don't really hurt that much (except when they find a nice real sensitive area - like just under the tip of the nose).
Bee Dummy Kevin
1 comment:
Beekeeping (or apiculture) is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in man-made hives, by humans. Most such bees are queen honey bee in the genus Apis, but other honey-producing bees such as Melipona stingless bees are also kept.
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