We have talked about getting honey bees pretty much since we moved here. Last spring we almost got some but then decided we would wait until this year instead. Since then, we’ve been casually reading about them, talking to local beekeepers, and just trying to build up some information. Then we had a chance to tour an apiary (Bees & Glass) with a local home learning group, so Meredith, Fiona, and I trooped out to go learn about them. Kris told us to make sure to ask lots of questions about getting them ourselves.
It was kind of amazing to see. The bees were very calm and he moved them around (gently) with his bare hands to show us the brood and the honey and the pollen. He found the queen (pictured above) and all the kids gathered close to see. Meredith had been a little worried about being so close to them, but she grew comfortable very quickly and was soon standing near the front asking questions and making sure she saw everything.
Meredith even got to hold a drone. She was fascinated. We sampled some honey and they showed us a bee suit (and even sell a kid-sized one). After the official tour was over, we stuck around and asked even more questions. It’s obvious I’m pregnant, and she said I’d want to make sure Kris was up for checking the hive every week even if I wasn’t. I told her the days we are going to be away this summer and she said by then the hive should be okay to be left alone for 2-3 weeks. Meredith and I went home buzzing with excitement and telling Kris all about it. He was pretty excited too and said he would have no problem doing most of the care of it this year.
I posted on Facebook asking for more information, revisited some of the bee blogs and sites I have bookmarked, got some books from the library, and Friday called her up to ask for names of local breeders, thinking that we’d order some to pick up in late May. Turns out she had just found out about one wanting to downsize and selling off a few hives for really cheap. She gave me his number, and he told us he’d been inundated with calls and couldn’t hold them, so we would have to get them this weekend if we wanted them. I called Marilyn back up, and she said if we could find a place for them and had a stand, that we should go for it and she could come out on Monday and have a look at them with us and help us figure out what equipment we would need and show us a few things in person on handling them. We’ve had a place picked out pretty much since we seriously discussed it last year, so that was easy, and Kris hammered together a stand with some scrap wood, then left at 6am Sunday to go and pick them up.
They spent most of the day flying around the hive. It was neat to see the orientation flying they were doing in person, since I’ve only read about it previously. We made sure they had a water source nearby and otherwise mostly left them completely alone.
When we went out to check on them in the afternoon, one landed on my arm. I admit I was a little nervous, but it was also really neat to see one up close. The girls and I had a look at her and then she flew off to join the rest of the bees. I’m hoping that they will do okay. I’ve read that it is harder for a beginner to start with an established hive since the colony is bigger and needs more maintenance than a new, smaller one. But I think we’re up for it. And we might even get honey this year. Though to be honest, even if we don’t having them around to pollinate our trees and veggies and everything else is actually the main reason we wanted them. We do have mason bees already but only a really small house of them. I’m excited to see what Marilyn has to say about them tomorrow.