This
is the start of my third year as a beekeeper. Year One was about
Learning and Firsts and getting comfortable with the bees. Year Two
was about disappointment and confusion and learning even more, while
I watched two separate hives dwindle and die. Year Three is going to
be the Year of Survival. I am determined to have at least one colony
survive into next spring, and in order to stack the odds in my favor
I went a little overboard. I purchased 3 packages of Italians.
That’s right. THREE. They came in this Monday. I picked them up,
setup my equipment, and got everything ready. Then, while I was
installing them, I got a call from the swarm coordinator with the
PPBA saying that I was next on the swarm list and they had one for me
if I was still interested. Umm, yes! In case you aren’t counting,
that makes FOUR colonies of bees for me now. So in three years I’ve
gone from none to one to none to one to none to four!
While
I’m excited about all these hives, I had to find a place to put
them. I’m making a tough decision and deciding not to put any bees
out at Dick’s place again. While it was a nice spot, and Dick was
great about us doing inspections, it was just too far of a drive. So
no bees at Dick’s place. Instead, I went across the street to
Homestake Nursery and spoke with the manager. They were very
amenable to me keeping some bees at the back of the property in
exchange for some honey. So I have the swarm (Queen Dulce) and two
of the packages (Queens Elena and Fiona) installed at Homestake
Nursery. While I’m concerned about the bees having enough
resources with three hives in one location, it will make supplemental
feeding easy, if necessary.
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| Swarm installed in hive, using improvised bottom and top cover (from my beevac) |
The
final package (Queen Gwendolyn) I installed at a very nice couples
place. Judy and Arney called last year about me moving their hive
because they couldn’t take care of it anymore. So I moved their
hive to my place, and they ended up dying anyway. My husband calls
me The Queen Killer. Not this year! I called Judy this week and
asked if they’d like to have a hive in their yard again, but I’d
take care of it for them and do all the work. They really liked the
idea, and I like all the mature blooming things in their
neighborhood. Plus, it’s not that far from me.
There
is a reason behind me wanting multiple hives, and yes, I should have
listened and done two the first year. With more than one hive, I am
able to make comparisons to watch for really strong or weak hives. I
have the resources to pull frames of brood from one hive and
introduce to another if necessary, like if a hive goes queenless and
I need them to make a new queen. This might have saved our hive last
year.
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| Two packages after installing in hives |
A
few comments about installing the packages; it was so easy this year!
It took Sarah and I such a long time to do the install our first
year, they wouldn’t come out of the box for anything. This year, I
did the installations by myself, and it took no time at all. I
removed two frames, pulled the feed jar out, removed the queen cage
and sat it to the side, then dumped the bees in with only a few
shakes. Then I gently replaced the frames. There wasn’t any candy
in the queen cage, just the cork, and I didn’t have any
marshmallows with me, so I took a chance and did a direct release
into the hive. I figured the bees had already been with their queens
for a few days, and they weren’t attacking the queen cage, so I
gambled on them not wanting to kill her. Also, with frames already
having comb on them, I’m hoping she starts laying immediately.
That will make the bees happy, too. And keep them from absconding.
In all cases, she walked right out of the cage and into the hive.
Keeping my fingers crossed that I find some eggs and maybe even larva
when I check on them Saturday.
