The Wally-Gee Bee Journey 🐝

[WallyG74]

WOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!

 

[5Australorpasaures]

WOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!
View attachment 3784693

THERE YA GO!!

 

[WallyG74]

So, I jumped the gun a little. First dibs turned into second dibs. He’s keeping this one for himself. It’s all good. I have traps out, he’s got traps out. Plus I still have the colony at my sister’s house I gotta get. One way or the other, I will have bees this spring.

 

[WallyG74]

These ones are for me!

 

[WallyG74]

I wonder where the main hive is that this swarm split from? This is on the side of a pole in town amongst a bunch of businesses. Ain’t that crazy? He has to hide his swarm traps when he doesn’t want more bees!

 

[WallyG74]

Bee transport was a success! They were pissed when I got home with them. It’s a good size primary swarm. We watched them come in for the night before we moved them. They’re pretty little girls. Very petite. They were busy. Lots of pollen and nectar to be had right now. Our close proximity to the box didn’t bother them at all. I’ll try to get some pics as I move them to their new home. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow so I may be a day or 2 before moving them.

 

[WallyG74]

These are not the best pics. When you’re a novice and doing it alone, the pics are quite secondary. It’s a really good sized colony, as I’ve said before. I did not take a lot of time to look for the queen. I was breezy and 68F. I wanted to get them in their new home quickly. Field bees were coming back with pollen baskets full as bees on the new box were fanning their little butts off! It went smoothly and I am happy to have my new colony. I saw a couple drones as I quickly looked around for the queen. I’m not sure what that tells me at this point, after the swarm. Maybe some experienced beekeepers can fill me in.

 

[Sally PB]

Bee meeting tonight. We're turning it into an errand run, since the meeting is about 45 minutes away. Oh, and dinner out, too.

One stop will be Flowerland. Their website says they have Trumpet Vine plants in stock. I've read they can take 3-5 years to flower (maybe that refers to plants grown from seed?), so I hope they have some plants that will flower this year.

The topic at the meeting is making splits. I hope we can do that this year.

We got started on this venture going halvsies with one of the neighbors. She has had ZERO interest since. Never asked about them, never wanted to look in the hive. I texted her and asked if she'd like the $$$ back... but haven't heard anything. (Par for the course.) Next time I see her, I'll ask again.

 

[WallyG74]

Bee meeting tonight. We're turning it into an errand run, since the meeting is about 45 minutes away. Oh, and dinner out, too.

One stop will be Flowerland. Their website says they have Trumpet Vine plants in stock. I've read they can take 3-5 years to flower (maybe that refers to plants grown from seed?), so I hope they have some plants that will flower this year.

The topic at the meeting is making splits. I hope we can do that this year.

We got started on this venture going halvsies with one of the neighbors. She has had ZERO interest since. Never asked about them, never wanted to look in the hive. I texted her and asked if she'd like the $$$ back... but haven't heard anything. (Par for the course.) Next time I see her, I'll ask again.

Always gonna have those people. She will want some honey once the work is put it.

 

[Apis mellifera]

a novice and doing it alone

Great job! You can hit them with an oxalic acid dribble before the hive has capped brood and feed them 1:1 or thinner syrup until they draw out 2 brood boxes of frames.