My bees are finally here! Of course, it's Mother's Day and totally inconvenient for everyone. I guess the sleeping in will have to wait two more weeks for summer. Who am I kidding? What is sleeping in? Upon arrival, James opened the lids of two corrugated plastic boxes with five medium frames in each box to confirm that there were lots of bees in each box! Since we had a long drive, we didn't want to rile the bees up, so he secured the lids with duct tape and we loaded 10 extra boxes ($150) I had requested and off we went back to Atlanta. I had already placed old shingles on the ground as a weed block. I also took a cedar fire wood stand apart & placed it on some cement blocks that were laying around for a hive stand.
Once home, I placed the nuc boxes on top the hives & opened the box a crack to let the foragers out. The bees on the right immediately began to carry dead bees out of their hive. They flew straight up and out of sight, I assume to drop them away from the hive! I let them rest a while. Look at these beauties!
Then the big test came: It was nice & hot outside and time to move the frames into the permanent hives. I lit my smoker ($42.99) with a little pine straw and dried leaves (and the little free starter pellet that came with it). I had a little difficulty making sure the smoke wasn't too hot, I finally got it. I was a little nervous.
I tentatively opened the lid to the first nuc and used the hive tool ($7.99) to carefully separate the frames. I picked up the first one using my hive tool on one side & my hand on the other. I slowly moved the first frame. Success!
The second frame, I did the same way, only I moved wrong & the frame slid off my hive tool. I dropped the end of the frame and knocked all kinds of bees onto the ground.
The rest of the bees were hopping mad! I got the frame straightened out and moved the next frame, the bees were making all kinds of noise and my nerves were fraying. By the time I got the third frame in the new hive, the bees were clearly miffed and all but hollering from the new hive. I'm guessing that the queen was still in the nuc box. After all the frames were moved there were still a bunch of bees on the ground.
I slid a board into the nuc box and leaned it against the hive. My good little soldier ladies immediately began marching into their new home. At this point, I needed a break, so I let the bees settle.
Part 2:
I realized the err of my ways. First, I was a baby. Second, I did't set up my operation in a natural way. I was reaching over flapping box lids and hives. It was inefficient. This time, I placed the nuc box to the left of the hive, so the lid would flap open the opposite direction. I also moved one of the empty frames over, so the new ones were in the middle. As I moved them, I was careful to make sure the frames stayed in the same order.
I used a few puffs of smoke and then started moving the frames. It went smoothly this time. I used the hive tool to separate the frames and picked each up by the corner. Since I was calmer, I was able to look at the frames as I placed them.
I was able to quickly move each of the frames and look over them. I even found the queen!
I was rocking & rolling! I replaced the hive top feeder (filled with sugar water), the inner cover, and the outer cover. I put the nuc box on the ground with a board and waited for these guys to make it the rest of the way home!
While I was working on the hive, I glanced over at the other box. This little bee was rolling around cleaning this piece of wax! It was wild to watch!
Total to Date: $896.97