Blame my elder stepdaughter. Or give her all the credit. She took up the cause last year by setting up two beehives at her house. Her mother and I then witnessed much of the excitement and drama that followed. It was contagious.
Jump ahead to this spring. We were encouraged to get our own hive, starting with the boxes and frames from another couple at Quaker Meeting, and then, drawing on said daughter’s expertise and guidance, we launched into our own “greening” venture. I painted the brooder- and honey- “deeps” or “supers” and the landing board all a light green, and set up a concrete-block base to discourage dampness, ants, mice, and our local skunks from invading. Positioned the entry to catch the morning sun, per said daughter’s instructions. And then she taught us how to attach sheets of what are called foundations to each of the frames that go inside the boxes for the bees to build their honeycombs on. Oh, there is definitely a whole new vocabulary for us to ingest.
The buzz really kicked in when our colony and queen arrived from Georgia earlier this month. We gingerly poured them into the hive, like a big glop, and they do seem to be settling in perfectly. Watching the details is fascinating, from their purging of the drones shortly after the big move and then moving on to the guard bees who expel “robber” bees trying to invade from other colonies while the workers get their bearings, explore, and arrive home with their legs brightly loaded with pollen. Who would have thought there would be so much personality in an apiary? We haven’t even gotten to the queen bee yet,deep within the hive – we hope.
We’re not expecting to collect any honey this year – we’d rather have the hive be well supplied for its first winter – but the benefits to our garden and the surrounding environment give us justification enough.
Yes, we got bees – honeybees!

Bee’s are amazing! They are just waking up here in Canada, I saw 5 of them on our haskap bush!
It’s fun watching them return with the “baskets” on their back legs full of pollen.
We looked inside the hive this week, and the new colony seems very happy. We’re going to wait to locate the queen, though, till she moves a frame or two over.
There is a huge wild hive not fifty feet from our rig. It’s twenty feet up in the tree and sounds like an idling jet engine. Very intimidating.
Good look with the new venture!
There is a huge hive not fifty feet from our rig. It’s up in a tree, and sounds like a jet idling. Very intimidating.
The best of luck with your new venture!
Ours are much more civilized.
Thanks! I hope ours never get that loud!