snowy hives

well, it has been a cold and windy weekend....making sure enough sugar water is available..

robin's egg blue

Queen's cage is in the stomach, hex wire covers a red cloth inside. I liked the combination of colors.

holy triptych

each piece is 1.5x 5 inches...collage and encaustic...some real bees that didn't make the installation are on the middle piece surrounded by St. Michael (the protector) and the Black Madonna. After one of the hives blew over yesterday, I thought we needed help.

bees moving in.....

the hives in our fields...

cages in the car..

bee geek!

the bees are here...

Hello friends! Well, Mark, Janelle, and I went to Bruce Crossing (White Birch Apiary) to fetch our bees tonight! We pulled up and there were about 10 vehicles there. People had come from Kingsford, Champion, etc. to pick them up. Les's garage was full of packaged bees.....bees flying around, landing on us, etc...it was like 'okay, get a grip...these lovely bees are docile and kind and want to go and move into your hives!'....so, after about a 1/2 hour, it was our turn. John and I got a 3 lb package of Italians and a 3lb package of Carniolans. Mark and Janelle got 2x2lb packages of Carniolans. Les said we could go ahead and install them tonight if we wanted: the weather was pretty good and tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful. So, I had sugar water mixed up after school (50-50) and John had hive stands and the hives in place before he left for his 'trout camp'....so, I decided to go for it and install them tonight. Pretty exhilarating, the whole night....a little nerve wracking. I wore full gear, as I wanted to be able to concentrate on the task at hand! I looked like a beegeek! (only one truck drove by..and yes, slowed down!) I think the installation went well. The Italians were a little more agitated than the Carniolans, but I should have sprayed them with sugar water. The cork on the one queen's cage went in instead of out!..but, it is small,and I think (hope) she will be okay. We have nice frames with combs drawn and some honey stores. Still, they will feast on sugar water for some time until things bloom. So, I hope the skunks and bears stay away until we can get some fencing up! Bless the bees until then! The bees seemed really happy with their new home, and I hope it serves their needs. Now, we are supposed to leave them alone for 5-7 days then check on things. The queen was kept in her cage with a marshmallow shoved in the end...once she eats her way through, she will hopefully start to build the colony.