on tuesday, husband, sister, brother-in-law and myself packed up the minivan for an hour drive to pick up my new hive! i found it listed on craigslist...the woman selling it had lost interest in beekeeping. in preparation for the move i read up on "moving a hive" and watched lots of youtube videos of other people doing it, so i felt almost confident...we got there about 6:15 pm and the bees were all in the hive, which was exactly what we wanted. i duct taped the exits and strapped the hive together. my 2 strong men CAREFULLY carried the hive and all 10,000 honey bees to my van. then came the hour + drive back home with a car full of bees. my poor sister and her husband were such good sports.
the woman i bought the hive from had it put together wrong...as some of you can tell from the pictures. she has the inner cover, in between 2 shallow honey supers. she was not using a screened ipm bottom board, and she had not managed/ inspected the hive at all from last summer until now. i know that some people are thinking i may have inherited a headache (which may prove to be true). BUT, i did check the bees for signs of infection or illness (i did not see any), i got everything for cheap, all the hive componets are from brushy mountain bee farm (so it's quality equipment), and i plan on using this hive as my learning/ test hive.
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| yayyyy we did it! |
because i really have an obsessive thing, i want everything to match (paint color) AND because i want to set the hive up with all the correct componets and equipment... i want to take all frames out of this hive (including the brood supers) and transfer them to my empty hive that i have all set up and ready to go. i know pretty ambitious...
on wednesday (the next day) i was stung for the 1st time! totally my fault...i was in a great rush to set up an entrance feeder with medicated syrup. i didnt realize it, but i approached the hive from directly infront of the entrance (and i was only wearing leggings on my bottom half AND i didnt have my smoker)...so guard bees came right out and stung me on the leg...i also should of left the hive alone for a week after i moved them, giving them time to adjust to the move. but i was EXCITED and couldnt help it! SO... next week i will try to do better! i will adhear to all safety measures and procedures...wish me luck :)
How exciting! Man I would have LOVED to find someone who lost interest in beekeeping and was selling their stuff off cheap. I really would like to add a few hives next year to our 1. But it seems everyone wants to sell their used stuff at practically new prices.
ReplyDeleteI am building our own extractor this year from some nline plans thanks to the above trend I have found in this area. Should be interesting to say the least. lol