So first she says she's going to give them to anyone who can come remove them.
Then she says, "Too bad you don't have a hive set up, I'd give you one."
O M GOODNESS!!
I've been wanting bees ever since my mom started taking the bee classes and participating in the Don Meyer program in 2009. I almost signed up in 2010, but too much was going on for us.
So here we are, in 2011 - and I got a crash course in Beeking this week!
Mom, with the help of kel's advice, managed to capture both swarms. Thank goodness they were in bushes low to the ground! She put hers into a cardboard box, and mine in a cardboard nuc box.
She brought the nuc box to us on Thursday night. We set up a dog box on cement blocks about where we wanted the hive to be. Then, we put the nuc box in the dog box to protect it from the weather.
Kel said she could bring me some beeking supplies and help me install the bees.
Lemme tell ya'll, she's an awesome friend! But she couldn't come until today, so the bees were in the cardboard nuc box over the weekend.
By Friday they had found a way out. Bees flying everywhere, but going back to the nuc box inside the dog box.
Kel and TR arrived right around 12:30 pm today and no time was wasted in getting out to the bees. By 2 pm the hive was set up and the bees installed.
Lemme tell you, when Kel lifted up the lid to the nuc box (while I watched and TR hid behind a tree screaming get the smoker get the smoker!) there were THOUSANDS of bees hanging to the box lid!
E said I should have seen the expression on my face when she lifted that lid and I saw those bees - and you betcha, I backed up and hid behind that tree with TR - I mean, she was wearing the ONLY SUIT!
But, it all went rather well, and I did get sorta close - and the bees didn't care that we were there, not really.
Well, the few that got squished when the lid was put in place might have cared but....well...lol
I have pics of the whole install process, and the dog box temp hive, but again, no cord, so the only pic I have to share is this one that Kel emailed me.
If you look close enough, you can see my bees flying in and out!
Her husband has a real obsession with the smoker - kel was working around the hive and he suddenly blurt out, "Need me to check that smoker? it looks like it's going out..."
I have a pic on my camera of the "men" hiding behind the trees LOL
Kel also had me suit up so I could feel comfortable trying things out. I practiced smoking my bees, pretended to use the hive tool (hahahaha) all just for photos!
I'll get to the library tomorrow to upload the install pics. I got an awesome one of the nuc box lid covered in bees.
Oh, and they had already started building comb in the box! Kel saved it for me so i can keep it!
The sweetest moment of the day was when Kel was putting on her bee suit, and her husband wanted to be sure she had a bottle of water on hand so that she wouldn't over heat and pass out.
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