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| One of our fuzzy friends last summer :-) |
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| Tool Lady checking the hive last summer |
I sure hope this whole thing works. I really do love keeping bees, just not the swelling of it all :-)
Linking up to Homestead Barn Hop #54
Our journey to producing more and consuming less on 1/8 acre in the middle of the city. Urban farming, through keeping backyard chickens and a top bar hive of honey bees, practicing organic vegetable gardening, taking care of several fruit trees, maintaining a compost pile, canning and preserving our harvests and trying our best to do it all ourselves using reclaimed materials where possible.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Bee Relocation - Settling In
Well, I don't have any new pictures to show you of the bee relocation, because the weather was absolutely gross today! It was so windy all I could do was check on the chickens and hoop houses while trying my best to not get blown over! I do however, want to say that last nights move went very smoothly! With the help of my brother and his girlfriend, we got the bees all wrapped up and moved to their new spot in no time flat. (You can read about our decision here, and all the prep here.)
Now, the bees were pissed, I won't deny it. Luckily, we followed directions and taped screen over their entrances so they could still breathe, but not get out. We also strapped the top of the hive down so there would be no wiggle room for any of them to get out. With the screen attached, we could see into the hive, and let me tell you...there were a ton of bees on the other side of the screen trying to get out so they could protect themselves from us awful humans. After we got them moved, we left them wrapped up and taped in for a couple of hours so they could calm down. Before bed, Tool Lady went out and removed all the tape so they could do their new orientation flights this morning.
Like I mentioned, it was gross out today. I feel kind of bad that they had to deal with a windy day as they got themselves re-established, but there's nothing we can do about it now. The plan is to let them do their thing this week and, weather permitting, get into the hive next weekend to check on them.
I sure hope this whole thing works. I really do love keeping bees, just not the swelling of it all :-)
I sure hope this whole thing works. I really do love keeping bees, just not the swelling of it all :-)
4 comments:
Thank you for taking the time to share your voice! Your feedback and perspectives in this space help it to feel so much less like a one sided conversation. I welcome and enjoy each and every one of your comments and will do my best to respond as quickly as possible. However, if you are here to promote a business or be unkind, please know that this is not the place to do so and such comments will be quickly deleted.
Im glad it all went well, Im sure the bees will forgive you, they cant stay mad :) I really love your Idea for the pallet planters, they're gonna look amazing when they're all filled up and growing. Ive been loving the bee posts recently, its really inspiring me to start building mine, if you get a chance could you show me your building plans for your hive?
ReplyDeleteThanks Astra! I have talked to Tool Lady and she is going to try to draw up her plans for the top bar hive. I think she just pieced it together using several other ideas from various sites without writing anything down (her brain works in amazing ways). I'll ask her about it again :-) I'm glad you're enjoying the bee posts! With the warm weather upon us, I hope to be posting more and more about them!
DeleteFirst time follower from the Barn Hop. I really enjoyed what I have read so fare, look forward to reading more! Come visit me at:
ReplyDeletehttp://theredeemedgardener.blogspot.com/
Thanks for popping over, Clint! Welcome!
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