Bees, Bees and Hopefully More Bees

With baited breath I buzzed over to my beehive. It was finally warm enough outside to open the hive and transfer the frames to their new and permanent home. I was terrified but of getting stung – I was scared that with this invasive inspection, I would find evidence of disease, pests or maybe an unproductive queen.

I went gloveless. I figured since this was my first time opening the hive, I might as well get stung to just get it over with. Because really, how many beekeepers are out there that haven’t been stung hundreds of times? I’m not a sicko or anything but I was curious about it but also worried about it a little.

I remember the last time I was stung by a bee. I was probably eight or so. I was in the back yard with my siblings playing on a Slip 'n Slide. Of course we were running around like maniacs and I’m sure my ribs were red and bruised from throwing myself on the ground in anticipation of a fast and cooling ride. After sliding to the end, I got up and started running back for another turn and POW! I stepped right on a bee. I saw the stinger in my heel gyrating back and fourth pushing more and more venom into my foot. I just sat down and whaled, waiting for my mom to save the day. I think it hurt pretty badly but I don’t know if it hurt just because I was a kid. And then I start thinking, I was a pretty tough kid and I know that things that didn’t faze me then would be a big deal to me now. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m a little confused on what to expect, hence the feelings of curiosity and fear.

When the cool but thick smoke of burning burlap entered the hive the sound went from a steady and quiet hum to a frenzy of buzzing. Bees came zooming out of the hive like warriors called to action. Other bees stayed inside and dove into cells of the comb head-first. I was told that the smoke makes bees eat their reserves. They think their house is being burnt down to the ground. I had my bee veil on of course and I’m glad that I did – I learned that they like to go straight for your face to defend their hive.

We had one super with all of the frames in it and the top super had their feeder in it. One catch was that the current supers weren’t ours so we had to move all of the frames to our new hive. After moving all of the frames over to the new supers, the plan was to move 2 of the eight frames up to an additional super and then add 4 more frames to that making a total of 6 frames in each super. After things calmed down (probably 2 minutes or so), we started removing frames from the old supers and placing them in the new ones. As we worked in a calm and fluid motion the bees flew around but not aggressively. I wasn’t sure what to expect in this case either so I was pleasantly surprised.

The frames were absolutely covered in bees and we worked diligently as not to squish any of them. Mission accomplished! The bees lined up out in front of the hive with their rears up in the air and fanning their wings. That was a great sign. When they do this, they are releasing pheromones into the air letting all of the other bees know where their “new” home is.

I’m excited to see them again tomorrow. We will be adding a new top feeder and screened bottom board. And this time I will remember to charge my camera. Pictures to come this weekend!

Daphne