NOTE: This is an update on yesterday’s post.
I put on my bee suit this morning as the coffee dripped and walked down to the apiary. Standing behind, I placed my hands on the sides to feel for that tale-tale vibration of happy bees. A sense of unease trickled up from my stomach. I laid my ear on the top of the hive. Nothing.
When I flipped open the hive top, the box was empty. I'm not sure where they went, but they were no longer on the property. I felt as if I had failed them.
Later, I called my beekeeper buddy and told him the news. He understood why I was bothered.
My research from yesterday showed me some things I can do in the future, so when I asked my mentor about building feeders, he told me to come over this afternoon that he had a couple he would give me.
When I showed up, he not only had feeders, he had a professional coat and veil that was still in the shipping container. He said I could take it and reimburse him later, but I wrote him a check.
He was working his bees when I drove up and asked if I wanted to help for a while. I put on my new suit and started opening hives. For the first time, I found the queen bee in a hive. I know this doesn't sound like a big deal, but with 10,000 bees on a box not much bigger than a toaster, it's pretty hard finding the queen.
I also got to do a hive inspection with someone explaining what to look for and what it looked like up close. It was exhilarating.
As I was taking off my bee suit, he asked me if I had a tie-down strap in my truck. I did. He walked over to the edge of his apiary and picked up a NUC, which is an abbreviated beehive. It only has five frames, but it was full of bees. If it had not been a time of social distancing, I would have hugged his neck.
I learned more today in about a half-hour in an apiary with an experienced beekeeper that I've learned in all the books I've read so far.
I put on my bee suit this morning as the coffee dripped and walked down to the apiary. Standing behind, I placed my hands on the sides to feel for that tale-tale vibration of happy bees. A sense of unease trickled up from my stomach. I laid my ear on the top of the hive. Nothing.
When I flipped open the hive top, the box was empty. I'm not sure where they went, but they were no longer on the property. I felt as if I had failed them.
Later, I called my beekeeper buddy and told him the news. He understood why I was bothered.
My research from yesterday showed me some things I can do in the future, so when I asked my mentor about building feeders, he told me to come over this afternoon that he had a couple he would give me.
When I showed up, he not only had feeders, he had a professional coat and veil that was still in the shipping container. He said I could take it and reimburse him later, but I wrote him a check.
He was working his bees when I drove up and asked if I wanted to help for a while. I put on my new suit and started opening hives. For the first time, I found the queen bee in a hive. I know this doesn't sound like a big deal, but with 10,000 bees on a box not much bigger than a toaster, it's pretty hard finding the queen.
I also got to do a hive inspection with someone explaining what to look for and what it looked like up close. It was exhilarating.
As I was taking off my bee suit, he asked me if I had a tie-down strap in my truck. I did. He walked over to the edge of his apiary and picked up a NUC, which is an abbreviated beehive. It only has five frames, but it was full of bees. If it had not been a time of social distancing, I would have hugged his neck.
I learned more today in about a half-hour in an apiary with an experienced beekeeper that I've learned in all the books I've read so far.
