Well, today was installation day, and the bees were introduced into their new hives at the farm. We had quite a turn out for the event....either everyone wanted to see the bees or they wanted to see me get stung! Those in attendance were myself (obviously), my wife Dawn, my kids Aaron & Jessica, two of Jessica's friends - Hannah and Elizabeth, my Dad - Edward, my son-in-law Dan, two of my grandsons - Elijah and Nicolas, and one of my high school friends who is getting into beekeeping - Dick Loy and his wife.
For the most part, everything went very smooth with no major problems. The bees were very gentle and settled into the hives pretty quickly. The first package of bees I sprayed with sugar water and smoked before shaking them down into the hive. The second box had been calmer all along and since my sprayer clogged and did not get the opportunity to spray them with sugar water. I also did not smoke them to see what the difference would be with the installation. They still did well, but I would definitely recommend both spraying and smoking the bees! I noticed after they were in their hives for about 2 hours they were doing basic housekeeping and carrying off the dead bees. I will check on them again in a few days.
Larry removing the sugar container from bee package.
Larry shaking the bees into the hive.
Dick Loy & Larry commenting on a bag of pine needles used for smoking the bees.
Larry teaching Elizabeth (one of Jessica's friends) all about bees while Dick Loy watches. The bee hives are on concrete blocks to prevent skunks from trying to eat the bees.
"I'm Smokin'!"
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