Spring\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 New Moon (Flower)<\/p>\n
The bees have come.\u00a0 Mark Nordeen drove over today with our first packet of bees.\u00a0 This is a picture of a bee package off the web.\u00a0 The circle at the top contains a can of nutrient syrup for the bees while in transit.\u00a0 The can comes out and the bees pour out of the opening into the hive, which has four middle frames removed.<\/p>\n
Mark and I donned our bee suits (mine is borrowed from him), me for the first time.\u00a0 He pulled the can out.\u00a0 It had seepage on the bottom from three very tiny pricks in the bottom.<\/p>\n
He then turned the box over the opening in the hive and shook the bees out of the box through the circle which held the can.\u00a0 The bees poured out, most landing on the floor, then climbing up the frame of already built combs.\u00a0 A few bees remained so he shook the box, spilling the rest out into the hive.<\/p>\n
The queen comes in a smaller wooden box with a screen over one side.\u00a0 Mark uses the direct release method, meaning he opened the small wooden box on the bottom of the hive and let the queen walk out.\u00a0 Queen acceptance is the first critical move in the hive.\u00a0 That seems to have happened.<\/p>\n
We replaced the four frames and then put a patty of pollen replacement on top of the frames.\u00a0 Pollen substitute comes as a soft material that looks much the inside of a fig newton bar.\u00a0 Over the frames themselves and the pollen patty substitute went the hive cover, a particle board piece as big as the top of the hive with an ovoid slot in the middle.\u00a0 Over this slot goes a plastic pail with sugar water.\u00a0\u00a0 The pail’s lid has a small screen, smaller than a quarter in the center.\u00a0 The bees come up to this screen to feed until the plant world provides enough pollen for them to make their own food.<\/p>\n
I was a little nervous before Mark came, excited, too.\u00a0 The most unexpected part of the process for me was the sound.\u00a0 The hum of the bees as they took up residence gave off a sense of vitality and unity.<\/p>\n
Much more to learn, a years long course I believe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Spring\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 New Moon (Flower) The bees have come.\u00a0 Mark Nordeen drove over today with our first packet of bees.\u00a0 This is a picture of a bee package off the web.\u00a0 The circle at the top contains a can of nutrient syrup for the bees while in transit.\u00a0 The can comes out and the bees pour … Continue reading We Have 6,000 New Residents In Multi-Hive Housing<\/span>