Installing Them In New Hives

I couldn’t believe it has been almost a month since my last post.  Not that there wasn’t anything to write about but life has been so hectic.  Back to normal again at last and with good news as well.

Four of the hives didn’t make it through winter and the one that showed signs of life we weren’t sure of.  So, I placed an order for two new packages bees early on.  I wasn’t going to wait since the supplier either runs out or they ship too late in the season for the hive to get established properly before winter.

The post office called today letting me know that I have to pick up the bees.  The Post Office will not deliver live animals to an individual home, period.  The weather was also on my side: sunny with a thunder storm in the afternoon.  So I picked them up and installed them in their new homes.

A few things I do during the installation may be a little bit unorthodox like removing the cork from the opposite end from the fondant.  But I figured that the queen had been with the bees for at least  three days; it was not like I was introducing a new queen to the hive.  Also, with a storm coming, she won’t leave.  The installation process had gone well except for the Scotch tape that wouldn’t stick to the frame.  That caused an awkward maneuver on my part.

We are very happy to welcome around 20,000 children to the family.  And, adding to this, the surviving hive is very healthy and now threatens to swarm.

Here is the hives installation video.  Many awkward moments but happy all around at the end.