Monday, May 23, 2016

Honey, What's all That Buzzing?


My husband brought home two more nucs (colonies) of bees
over the weekend to replace the hive we initially lost.  We
ordered two before we found some of the second hive; however,
that hive is not as strong so this should help.

They were pretty agitated after riding in the truck so we used
some smoke to calm them down and transfer them into the hives. 


There are still some in the nuc box, and many in the 
void created by the box ends.  We had to pry them
open and shake them into the hive.  There were a few
stragglers that I shook out and quickly put the lid back on.


We inspected our existing hives and found either the queen
or evidence of the queen (babies).  Hopefully they will build
up their population sufficiently before winter and make 
enough honey to eat until Spring.  We can help them out
with food but it would be good if they made enough themselves.


We are not experienced enough to know everything we need
to know; however, the person my husband obtained the bees 
from turns out to have been in the same industry and they have
mutual acquaintances.  He spent five hours walking my husband 
through his set up (which is extensive) and how the process
should work.  He's been raising bees since he was 16, now in 
this 60s, and offered to help any time- and he is only about 
20 minutes from our house!  

We have about 20-30,000 bees now.  Most of them will not leave the hive; 
however, there are plenty that will. As I was watering flowers yesterday
I noticed that there were several bees circling me, trying to get water.  They
were not aggressive and didn't have any intention of hurting me.  They 
also buzzed me on the porch and wanted to land on me constantly.
Then I realized I must look like a giant flower with my light pink
T-shirt on.  I quickly changed to muddy brown and the buzzing stopped.

The property two lots up is for sale. I sure hope they like bees. 
And chickens, chicken tractors and coops! Up on the ridge top most
of the neighbors, regardless of "subdivision rules," do what they want
and no one complains as long as you don't bother anyone else.  We have
 a pretty good mix here too from carpenters, two nurses, engineer, and 
those that garden and like to build things.   

 More and more people from higher end communities are moving out this way.  
It has gone from pickups to BMWs, probably those that want a more quiet area and definitely the horse crowd.  We have a couple of horse farms, 
one very high tech, on the county road plus people with their own 
horses.   There are three or four $1 million plus properties within 
three or four miles from us.

I am still struggling with some health issues, more on that later but
I start insulin on Thursday.  It may be a temporary situation since
I have done everything right with meals- no cheating and eating donuts
which I dearly miss!  I have found some sugar free cookies that work into
my carb count plus fat free-sugar free pudding in case I have a sweet
craving.  I've lost almost 55 lbs but will need to start exercising every
day once I start insulin so it won't store in fat cells.  I won't have far
to travel since we have almost a complete gym in the basement.
(You'd think I'd use it more since it is only a trip downstairs!)

It should rain most of the week so a good time to get started!




7 comments:

LindaG said...

It is great to have someone to talk to when starting a new project like yours.
Good to know the 'higher end' people have horses, no complaints about smells then, at least. It is always sad when farmland is lost to subdivisions. Especially if you get a fussy one that won't let you do anything without permission.

*hugs* on the health issues. Hubby had his pacemaker bumped up, but seems to be doing slower. Hard to explain. He is on insulin now, too. His mother and grandmother (probably others, but that is all I know about) took it, too. He was told to take his before bed. Weird.

Anyway, God bless and have a wonderful week!

Gorges Smythe said...

Congratulations on the weight loss; it's no fun giving up the things that we love (and that are killing us).

Harry Flashman said...

When the hoity toity crowd starts moving in, that's trouble. They seem to be more inclined to get a lawyer, and less inclined to talk things out, than normal people are. I hope they don't start hassling you about "covenants."

Sorry to hear about having to deal with health problems. I can sure sympathize. About all you can do is just soldier on day by day.

Lady Locust said...

How exciting! Bees are on my someday list. Maybe everybody else will be a pro by the time I get started so I'll have lots of resources :)

Manny said...

That looks fascinating. I would love to raise bees, but I bet I would become a human pin cushion. :)

My continued prayers on your health Kathy. I had a little outpatient thing myself today, but nothing life threatening. It's on my blog.

Decor To Adore said...

Thank you so much for giving a helping hand to ensuring our precious pollinators continue. Thank you so very much for joining us at Thoughts of Home on Thursday. Have a wonderful holiday weekend.

Powell River Books said...

It's good you have a mentor so close by. Our town is changing a lot with new residents leaving the big city of Vancouver BC to find less expensive houses and a quiet place to retire. We are a resource based community with lots of logging. They don't understand that and there are lots of anti-logging protests. We have good logging companies in our area that use excellent reforestation practices, but that doesn't seem to mean much to some of the newcomers. - Margy