Gosh what an exhausting day.
The bees finally showed up. Woo-hoo!
The brakes of the UPS truck creaked as it glided to a halt. I peeked out the window as the driver walked slowly to the door, holding the box up so he could see the precious cargo. In the middle of a conference call, I answered the door with a headset and laptop in hand.
“I’ve been delivering packages for about ten years. I’ve delivered live lobsters, but this is the first time I’ve ever delivered bees.”
Me: “Oh really?”
This is what he was carrying. As is. Pretty cool, huh? The scary part: Those bees were mad. Aaaangry. Very irritated. Hearing about a 1000 angry bees in your home is a little unnerving.
As soon as I brought them in, I put down some newspaper and sprayed them with some sugar water. They immediately calmed down. Holy crap! It worked!
It was go time.
I suited up with my army surplus mechanic’s coveralls. Sure they were green, and the bees could mistake me for a bear, or a bear shaped object and sting me to death. I’d take my chances. I put on my pith helmet and the bee veil and gloves.
Game time.
I put on my big boy pants, swallowed my nervousness and grabbed the bees. I ignored the book, went straight from memory. Pulled the queen out, checked to make sure she was good (she was) and then pinned her to the first bar. The first rush of bees when I pulled the queen and feeding can…..uh…..*gulp*. Since there’s a giant mound of bees, the sugar spray really only gets on the outside of the screen. The bees on the inside were pretty excited.
Gathered my wits, installed the bees….uh….and I left the feeder inside. D’OH!
Ran inside with no bees trailing and got the feeder. None of the bees were really in attack mode. I didn’t get stung, I think they were more curious than anything. Pretty interesting.
So I’m also supposed to start a bee log.
So here goes:
Day 1.
Installation.
No comb (obviously)
Refilled feeder once, they had emptied completely after installation while I was at work
Weather: 80 degrees, up to 90 during the day on the day of install.
Blooming: Only noticed dewberry bush in the backyard blooming. All front yard quit blooming about a week and a half ago (during one of the cold snaps) Fruit trees in neighbors yard aren’t doing anything yet.
Combs: None
What is in the Combs?: N/A
Swarming?: N/A
Queen Issues: None, queen healthy, removed cork, they should be eating away.
Celebratory Beer after massive adrenaline rush from installation of bees: Revolver Blood and Honey