Bees

When we lived in the country we had six hives on our property, one owned by my brother and the other five owned by us. It was an interesting hobby and one I dearly miss now. We read a lot about what to do and we bought all the materials to make the supers (the sections of the hives that contain the combs). We decided they didn't need to be white and boring so we painted them a very pale green and then painted vines and flowers on the side in such a way that no matter which super you used the vines would line up and look like they were climbing the hive. I also painted a bee somewhere on each super. The trick was to find it.

When we received our first order of bees they came in tubes of about 4,000 to 6,000 bees with a queen and a few workers in a cage. The object was that you place the queen cage in a new hive between some of the frames (what they build the combs on). You then poured the tube of bees out into the hive and placed the lid on top. This was done in the morning and a bowl of sugar water was placed in the hive. The hive door was sealed with a small bit of grass or paper. The object was that the bees will eat the little wax stopper out of the queen cage releasing her into the hive. Once her scent is through the hive and they have fed a little they start working on clearing the door. This takes a day or two and they have now taken over the hive as their new home.

All pretty amazing really. Also the bees are quite docile while being installed as they don't have a 'home' to protect. Once they are established its a bit of a different story. Although, as long as you move slowly and its a nice sunny day, when they are busy working and therefore happy, you can go into the hive and do the chores. During these times when you remove the lid to the hive, after smoking them of course, there is a nice sounding hum issuing forth. If its a cloudy or cold day though, the sound can take on a roar. We had an experienced bee keeper tell us that you'll recognize the sound the second you hear it. And there was a time when I heard that sound and absolutely froze. My hubby didn't.

but that's a story for another day. :-)