here's what's buzzing

Since my bees arrived and I hived them, time has flown by.  I meant to post sooner - but it just didn't happen.  They were supposed to come the third week of March - but were delayed.  The good thing is, the hives were all ready for them - and I didn't have to rush to set them up.  My husband helped me get the bee yard ready.  We created a weed free level base with just a touch of tilt forward to keep any water from flooding the bees.  I still plan on adding wood chips or crushed stone on the ground around the hives and (in my ideal plan) a cute little fence around the perimeter. 

My two hives: The Birds and The Bees.

On March 29th the arrived - and I drove up to my supplier's farm and picked them up.  I purchased two 3 pound packages of Italian honeybees with queens.  I know that many people prefer nucs - and I tried one in the past - from the New England area.  They were supposed to have been over-wintered - making them more hardy for my location of south eastern Pennsylvania.  Unfortunately, not only did they cost a good bit more than the southern packages, but they also came much later in the season.  For me, that was, what I believe to be their downfall - as they missed the majority of the pollen and nectar flow.  Despite feeding them, they never really built up enough supplies of honey to make it through their first winter here.  Bummer.

 After hiving the queens and the majority of the bees, I left the packages with the stragglers in front of each hive.

They find their way into their new homes via pheromones.  Amazing stuff.

Well, back to my two new packages.  Because the weather was cooperating with me (at least on that day), I was able to hive them the same day.  However, the temperatures dropped for about a week or so after this and I began to see lots and lots of dead bees all around the hives on the ground.  I became really worried that within only a few days, that I had lost both colonies.  The temperatures were so cool that I really didn't want to risk doing an inspection  - so all I could do was peek in the top cover when replenishing their sugar water.  I saw bees in both hives - but not many.

All I could do for the next few weeks was to keep feeding and hope for the best.  When the weather warmed up enough for a proper inspection, I was relieved to see the workers in both hives drawing comb and both queens laying eggs.  Hurrah!  After all the cold temperatures finally seemed to pass, the rains came.  The rain was my next road block.  It rained and rained and then rained some more.  It wasn't until Mother's Day, that I could get back into the hives to do another inspection.  All that rain wasn't helping the bees get out to forage either.  So, despite mother nature's challenges, I am happy to report that things are looking good... now just keeping my thoughts positive that it stays that way!

Unfortunately, I haven't figured out a way to take better close up pictures when inspecting my hives.  I need another set of hands!  Maybe in a few years this guy can do it!

My beekeeping apprentice.  Love him!