May Day Installation

Yesterday did not seem like the first day of May, even for Minnesota. The temperature hovered in the 40s; it was rainy and overcast with a brisk wind. Not the type of day you'd expect to install bees in.

John and I went down early to B and B Honey Farm to pick up our bees. John was getting two 2 lb. packages and I was getting 4. With the chill in the air, the bees were rather quiet in the packages, all huddled together around the queen cage.

Installation of my four packages went without a hitch. I installed two of the packages in two top bar hives, and the other two in two langstroths. Except for dropping a jar of sugar syrup on the only cement in the beeyard, there were no major disasters.

I will be going home this afternoon to take a look at the hives and see how they're fairing. I don't expect to see much. May 2nd has temperatures in the mid 30s.

Retrieving More Queen Cages

I opened Metpropolis and Bee Glad... to retrieve the queen cages I left inside during last week's installation and took a very brief look at what was going on in the two hives. All seems to be well in both hives. The bees have been bringing a tremendous amount of pollen and nectar and are building comb quite rapidly.

I placed the fish back in Lake No-Bee-Gone today as well: two koi (one was in the pond last year), and 4 white clouds (all had been in the pond last season). Interestingly enough, here I have this pond as the water source for Beelandia, yet the bees prefer our muddy parking area to collect water. Hopefully, when the water dries in parking area, they will return to consuming water from the pond.

Installation of More Bees

Yesterday, I installed two more packages of bees (Minnesota Hygienic), one in Metpropolis, and the other in Bee Glad... I was in the middle of grading finals so the bees came at a very busy time. I was in my office yesterday morning, around ten, when I received the call from B and B Honey Farms. I left immediately with my friend Joyce to pick the 3 pound packages up.

The installation went without a hitch. I took a bit of time to make last minute adjustments to each hive, while I waited for Monta to return from work to photograph the process. The actual installation took just a few minutes. Quite a difference from all the fumbling and tentativeness that went on my first year!

Student Involvement in Beekeeping

Last month, I had my junior-level Global Issues course read and discuss Schacker's Spring Without Bees. The students were required to write a short research paper on CCD (What has been said since the publication of Schacker's book about CCD?) as well.

Today, one of the students in this course informed me that he and his friend are building a top bar hive this weekend and have ordered a package of bees. They are building their hive using Phil Chandler's design available at biobees.com. It is always rewarding when a student takes what you teach to heart, especially when it is something you are passionate about.

Latest News From Beelandia

It's been 4 days since I installed the two packages and the bees seem to be doing just fine. They are not consuming as much sugar syrup as anticipated but they are bringing in pollen from some unknown source. Except for a blossoming forsythia, I cannot see any other sources of pollen in the neighborhood right now, though many trees are about to flower. In three days I will do my first inspection and remove the queen cage from each hopefully.

I have discovered how mcuh my mental health is connected to working with my bees. Since installing these packages and watching the hives each day, I feel much less anxiety and am probably sleeping better. I know the death of my two hives installed last spring took much out of me.

Week 1, Year 2: Picking up Packages at Nature's Nectar

Monta and I got up early this morning and travelled over a hundred miles to pick up our two 2 lb. Carniolan packages at Nature's Nectar in Stillwater Minnesota. We had an excellent trip thanks to google maps and also found that our Vibes' cargo strap system keeps 2 lb. packages very secure over a relatively long trip.

Early in the afternoon I installed both packages in our two new hives: a top bar named Plan Bee From Outer Space, and a green Langstroth called Lib-BEE-taria. The installations went well without much problem. (see videos below). I gave each hive a MegaBeetm pollen patties and filled each hives' feeder with 1:1 sugar syrup.




The packages seemed very healthy, if I compare them with last year's two. Only a few dead bees, and very, very few damaged in transit. I am quite pleased with Nature's Nectar.

Model of Reality vs. Reality of the Model Part II

I was meandering through youtube.com this morning watching bee videos and saw this interesting video on the installation of bees. While the video is well done for an amateur video, this was really not what caught my interest about it, however. It was actually the reaction of some of the commenters who criticized the makers of this video for not "installing bees correctly". Yes, the video maker's method was a bit uncommon and I've never used their approach myself, but it is the method suggested by Furgala, Spivak, and Reuter in Beekeeping in Northern Climates, therefore, well within the realm of beekeeping "orthodoxy".

The comments toward this video illustrate a pet peeve of mine I've had throughout my lifetime: people who make knee-jerk criticisms of others without being fully up on the area of concern. If I've learned anything, for every successful experienced beekeeper, there is, quite likely, some unique successful technique I can learn from him/her. Once I, especially as a novice, close my mind to learning a new method, I am doomed.

Bees Ordered

I just placed my order with B and B Honey Farms for two three pound packages of bees for the spring. Thinking about spring with the bees just warms me up on this morning of below zero temperatures. 

Everyone might check out B and B's new website. They can't take  internet orders yet but they soon will be able to.

Day One: The First Day of Beekeeping

Yesterday, I became a beekeeper in earnest. I've read books, talked to beekeepers, monitored email lists, and perused websites. But on April 29th it finally occurred: I picked up my bees and installed them in my two hives.

The day started normal enough, teaching my Political and Social Thought class at 8:50a.m. After class, I took a 45 minute drive down to Houston, Minnesota to pick up my two packages from B & B Honey Farm. It was a pretty uneventful drive except for the last mile or so. B & B is located on a narrow, winding, dirt road with trees and gullies on each side. I "white-knuckled" the last mile in the pick-up, just hoping I wouldn't run into another vehicle coming the other way.

I was the only customer at B & B's when I got there but they still seemed like they were scrambling. Houston had an inch or so of snow two days before. While the snow had melted, they must have been backed up filling their orders.

The man who waited on me was helpful and kind, giving me a "mini-lesson" in package installation and carrying the packages right to the pick-up. I panicked a bit when I discovered that the queen cages were simply plugged with corks-- no candy. I hadn't anticipated this eventuality and, while the bees seemed "enamored" with their queens, I was really concerned about directly releasing the queen into the hive.

I left B & B, not without having a near collision with another motorist on that dirt road. I could just imagine the accident report..."minor neck injuries and a thousand stings from the angry bees let loose in the cab."

When I got home, I placed the packages on the back porch, sprayed them with sugar water and waited for Monta to return from work to take some photos of the installation. In the meantime, I got all my tools, implements, syrups, etc. I had prepared and set up in "Beelandia".







I installed the first package in the top bar hive (Metpropolis). The feeder baggie and pollen paddie were already placed in the hive. I was unbelievably calm opening the package, extracting the queen cage, and then shaking the bees into the hive. I did have an adrenalin "high" working with this first package, though, which might have caused me to be a little too fast in my movements. One bee got caught in my hair and promptly stung me on the side of the head. I believe another got caught between my fingers and let me know that she was there with another sting. I calmly finished closing up "Metpropolis", took a deep breath, and assessed my wounds.








I am happy to report absolutely no allergic reactions to the stings. The stings burned for about 15 minutes with no swelling or long term pain.

I went through the same process, this time with the Langstroth hive, "Bee Glad for the Hum has no ending...". This time things went much smoother, I took it slower, and there were no stings at all.



After Monta went back to work, I spent an hour or so simply watching the bees behavior, as they began the process of adjusting to their new digs. I also began my adjustment to them as well. As if to prove Walter Brennan right (watch the movie "To Have or Have Not"), I found out that dead bees can truly sting, after I got on my hands and knees to observe the behavior at the entrance to "Bee Glad...". When I tried to observe the entrance of "Metpropolis" a little too close, I also discovered that guard bees can be pretty direct in their attacks. (A sting right above the eye!) In all, though, it was an exhilarating experience I will never forget. I look forward to many similar experiences.

Bees Come Today

I will be picking up two packages of bees this morning from B & B Honey Farm in Houston Minnesota. More about the installation later!