The Supreme Beeing
Beekeeping log: Checked the main hive today and I must have somehow killed the queen because we have a queen cell in the brood. No biggie, I’ll just leave the brood alone for the next few weeks(thankfully I added the extra deep hive body on top) and concentrate on the honey “supers” which are getting really, really heavy right about now. I’ll have at least 2 frames to harvest soon and maybe more.
Checked the nucleus hive and I’ve already got a capped queen cell(meaning she’ll be emerging in a couple days) so I’m now apparently the proud owner of 2 hives of bees. They’re drawing comb there so they’re planning on making a nice size colony.
#beekeepingainteasybutsomebodygottadoit
(later I find out that the queen was just hiding. I would learn much from this experience)
My first frame of honey. OMFSM it tastes sooo good.
New bee (newbie) orientation — with Miranda Tehbee, Linda Tehbee, Sarah Tehbee, Martha Tehbee, Dana Tehbee, Roxanne Tehbee, Christine Tehbee, Bambi Tehbee, Sonja Tehbee, Sabrina Tehbee, Maria Tehbee and Kathleen Tehbee.
Beekeeping journal entry: Checked the hive for the queen and found her(YAY!!). She was marked with a green dot so it would be easy to spot her(for which I have to thank the guy who sold her and her daughters to add to my harem). I’ve got lots of brood comb and probably at least 50 lbs of honey comb. Jennifer Tehbee came out to talk and make sure it was just me and not a real threat to the hive. I showed her the smoker and she was convinced I was the real deal. THEN the damn storm showed up and I hurriedly put the hive back together. I had hoped to have time to check the bottom box for drawn comb(it’s only been a day but ya never know. They’ve almost completely filled the original frames with honey/brood so the new additions I added to their home will be welcomed I’m pretty sure.
Overall, it was a great day.
Drove to west of Elizabethtown today to get 17 hive bodies, 22 top covers, 2 inner covers and 4 nucleus(nuc) hives, all the hives/nucs had frames with them. So soon there will be an even larger Ha Harem in the works. Tomorrow I shall be adding a hive body to my existing hive and will try to trap some bees down the street from me with a new technique I’ve learned.
Oh yeah, I paid $300 for all that equipment and the frames alone would have cost me $450(plus shipping).
Since this will likely still be a better story than the new Star Warts movie, I have chosen the name
Barn Wars 7 – Attack of the Drones
(I’m pretty sure none of these are drones but the name works)
Opened the entrance to my hive today. I had an entrance reducer on it and “the girls” apparently get a little upset if you leave it too small for too long. Since they were a new hive, I figured they needed the smaller entrance to defend their home but they’ve had it long enough and so today was the day. Then I checked to see how they were doing with the new frames and while most of them were fine with me doing my job, Bobbie Sue and Elizabeth(yes, I give them names) were a little peeved but left me alone eventually so overall it was a good day.
BTW, the queen’s name is Siouxsie Sioux
Busy day at the Ha Harem. My 10,000 girlfriends were hard at work gathering food for me to indulge in.
Did my first beehive inspection today. They must be used to me by now because they paid almost zero attention to me while I looked for brood comb and checked out the honey reserves(one acted a little mad but I shooed her away). Haven’t spotted the queen yet but I didn’t pull all the frames out either. I may call one of my mentors and see if they can drop by and help me. I did accidentally crush one and I shall hold a funeral in her honor.
Notable comments from one of my followers:
“Dear bees,
I am so sorry for your lose. I accidentally crushed one of your roommates because she was too slow & not working very hard. It happened while I was checking on the honey that I’ll bee stealing from you. You totally have my condolences since that is one less honey-maker. Now get back to work as I did not mean to slow you down. If you see the queen tell her that I’m looking for her. She wasn’t wearing little ruby slippers was she? Glasses & a Sue Bee tattoo on her left wing?”
As of about 15 minutes ago I am officially a beekeeper. The little ladies were pissed as hell at me but they’re hanging out and hopefully back into their groove