The journey to today was full of ahh-ha moments for sure. After the first week of bee stings and swelled body parts. last minute orders for Benadryl ointment, witch-hazel, epinephrine autoinjector pens, lol and my new Jolly green giant-sized bee suit we braved the hives.
Week Two went much better, we were able to go out and feed the bees the sugar water laced with Honeybee Strong supplement and some bee pollen patties. This inspection was brief d/t the fact I was still a bit traumatized from the last couple of weeks of back pain and bee stings; did I mention I got stung in the head last week and walked around looking like Quasimodo with the left side of my face and ear swollen, lol (Tip: Take the stinger out fast cleanse area with alcohol and witch-hazel coat generously with Benadryl ointment; thank me later). At this inspection we learned, make sure you set up the camera before you get to the beehives and must take your gloves off to work the phone; well, that didn't happen so no video for this week; yeah, not stinging me today girls! We noticed the Apimaye insulated Hive #1 was thriving, they were busy, I counted 7-8 frames were drawn out and it was impressive! Apimaye hive #2 was also doing marvelous not as many frames worked on, 5-6; but still looking great. We have 2 wooden Langstroth hives, they had 3-4 frames drawn out and about 1/2 the number of bees as the Apimaye Hives: interesting. Bee keeping is hard work, and we found out we needed more stuff lol; I ordered a gorilla wagon to carry the boxes, frames, bee bag of handy tools, gallons of sugar water and stuff lol. We also needed Apimaye frame holders to hold the frames; and a torch to get a nice flame going for me favorite tool the smoker! Well, what can I say I learned a lot and at least this time no more bee stings a little less back pain and a whole lot of confidence gained!
So here we are today week 3.... letâs see if weâve learned anything from last week lol; read you can be the judge, comment below your thoughts.... We stated out preparing for today on Saturday, we mixed the sugar water, got the bee bag stocked with the smoker pellets and our new torch; perfect combo (my pals), the gorilla wagon came so we put that together and had a happy dance! Here we go camaraâŚcheck tripod... check... camera ready to go, lol check... Mac loaded up the wagon and off we went all suited up looking like the Giant marshmallow man in Ghost Busters... LOL.! It was awesome, it was amazing to see the changes that had happened since the last visit. Apimaye #1 again looked like it was thriving, so busy and as I looked at the frames, for the first time I could identify, the happenings going on. I could see pollen (different colors; that made me smile), larvae (the Queen is laying!), capped brood (there will soon be baby bees), nectar and capped honey along the edges. We got lost to the rest of the world and it felt magical. We walked away today with a little less back pain, no bee stings, pulling our gorilla cart with a smile on our face...Today was a good day.... The smoker is my Friend! We made our first video for your viewing pleasure, and it has sound...lolâŚ
* If you want a good look at the bees on the frame, make the picture larger or pan out.
Please be so kind and share your thoughts...
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