And So It BEEgins

Bees in Boxes aka Nucs

The bees are home. Tucked in a hive, huddled deep in the center of their  brood box from the frost. This morning I pressed my ear to the side of the  hive and listened to the hum of life inside before we left for Fargo, ND. I've barely seen my bees in the two days they have been home. In fact, I barely saw them when I installed them, in the dark, late in the evening on Wednesday. So I'm thankful for the pics my daughter snapped with her phone in the flurry of activity which was the bees arrival.

It's been a long week and by the end of the day tomorrow I will have logged about 1100 miles of driving since Tuesday. My week started on Tuesday, in Fargo, with Mike where we learned he would need surgery to fix the "wonky" disc in his back. He's in surgery as I write this. Between trips to Fargo I fit in a 10 hour round trip to Dennison, MN to pick up the bees. I am thankful my son Dan went with to keep me company on the long trip.

I arrived home with the bees around 8:40. The temperature was 38 degrees. It was dark. Now, I told you I would share successes and mistakes in the blog. Here is my first mistake:

Opening a nuc of bees, who have been stuck in a box for 5 hours, in the dark without smoking them and without your bee gear on is dumb. Really DUMB

To them, I was a predator and they were having none of that.  Luckily I'm a fast learner.  Luckier still, no one got stung.

After lighting the smoker, putting bee gear on my grandson Seth (he is my helper) and myself, with my husband holding a flashlight and with my daughter (Kris), granddaughter (Brooke) watching from a safer distance I managed to get all the bees into the hive. Kris is a brave woman and stepped in to take pictures. I am thankful she did because it never crossed my mind.

Thanks Kris

Peace,
Karen

Filling the feeders.

Pre Bee Gear

Zippin Seth into his gear.

Ready for attempt number 2

Smoker ready