I had installed two Hives with Italian Bees last year which came from Jessup Georgia via Walter Kelley last year and had a lot of success with those two hives and some really
wonderful honey last Fall.
I was keen to add two new hives to the Abbott Apiary this year and ordered Bees from Walter Kelley again because I was so happy with last years bees. This time the Bee Packages came from Kentucky and they are Italian Bees too. This is a little photo journal of Charlie and I installing the Bee packages into new Hive Boxes this afternoon. We wanted to get the bees into their new homes ASAP so they could start producing and getting established. It is a little late this year but apparently because it was so cold in the south, the bees were not ready until much later this year. I would have preferred to get them installed on the New Moon but 2nd choice is the Full Moon and it was definitely something I wanted to get done before tomorrows eclipse. The bees seemed a bit traumatized from their journey and there quite a few dead ones on the bottom of the package. I had received a call from the post office this morning and Charlie went down to the Post Office to pick them up. When he got there a few of the bees had escaped and were flying around. The postal workers said it was the most active bee package they had ever seen!. When I got home from work at around three o'cock I was concerned and we decided to get them into their new homes right away do we donned apparel and got busy with the Bees!!
Spraying the Hive Frames
with Sugar Water and Essential Oils before
Shaking in the new Bees
Getting the Smoker Smoking! |
Charlie puts on his Bee Suit |
What a Cute Couple in their Bee Suits! |
Charlie Shaking in a Package of Bees into New Hive Body |
Shake Shake Shake |
Looking Good!! |
So Happy the New Bees have made it to their New Home!! |
Both new Hives have been installed with New Queens, syrup cans, and Shipping container left near by |
The Bees have found the entrance and they are going in and out. They seemed very thirsty so we put some rainwater in a dish nearby with sticks and leaves in it so they won't drown |
Watching the New Bees get acclimated to the Hive boxes was fascinating. |
We love Sitting on our porch
watching the Birds and the Bees
|
The bee garden is a slice of heaven! Really enjoyed this blog post, and the photos!
ReplyDelete