A drone bee (the big one in the center) among all the worker bees(all females). The drones are male and the only thing they do is provide the sperm for the queen (once every spring). Then, they do absolutely nothing, until winter comes and the girls get sick of them and kick them out of the hive, where they freeze! Yikes!
Our 3 pounds of bees, clustering around their queen.
Our hive, ready for the transplant.
Our neighbors gather around for the big event. They are very brave. I was really nervous! But, it went very smoothly and was actually REALLY REALLY COOL.
The queen bee herself. We named her "Queen Amila. (after me, ofcourse! You pronounce that Aim-ah-lah, it's a yiddish nickname for Amy)." Anyway, she comes in this little box with a sugar cube, that she has to eat her way out of once she is in the hive. Genious!
Our brave little bee assistant.
Eric gave the bees sugar water to calm them, and then he had to, basically, pound them out of the cage. They just fell into the hive and went to work making their new home!
My brave and crazy husband, the beekeeper. I love that man to death, and I can't "bee"lieve all the things he has convinced me to do in our 8 1/2 years of marriage. This one takes the cake! The kids are thrilled, and I will admit that I even like the bees. They are fascinating! I'm still not brave enough to have them in our yard. Our kind neighbor, Daryl Alder, whose children are all grown, will keep them in his yard for us. I trust the bees, I just don't trust my children. If you know my kids, you'll understand. Eric was joking with Noah and he told him to go kick the hive. Noah said, "okay!" and ran off to do it, with me screaming in the background. We caught him in time, but you get the picture. Oy! Anyway, we are excited for the honey, and most of all for the pollenation! Our tomatoes will be so happy, our peach, pear, apple, and cherry trees will be singing with fruit, and watch out for that zuchinni! They will fly out in a 6 mile radius, so all our neighbors will benefit, and come fall we will hopefully have 2-3 gallons of honey to share. Yipee! Amazingly, it takes the nectar from about 5 million flowers to make just one pint of honey. So, just imagine how much work goes into all that those busy busy bees do for us.
12 comments:
Wow I learn something new about you two every time I read your blog!!Bees... that is great!! Good luck!
Oh my this makes me itch just thinking about it! You all are too brave!
It was such an amazing experience putting them in the hive. They were flying all around Judson and I but no one was stung and I was shaking them into the hive. They are so much fun to watch. We are amazed as we learn more about them--they are really incredible creatures. Everyone should get a beehive! :)
That is so cool! My mom would love a beehive for her fruit trees as well. How did you guys get started?
How am I going to kill all the hornets now?
I would love to come see the hive sometime!
(P.S. This is your backyard neighbor Sue)
I was wondering how the bee delivery had gone! So exciting! Now when are you getting goats, rabbits, and chickens?
Ummm...ARE YOU TWO INSANE??? I really can't BEElieve it! (nice pun Amy) But seriously, part of me thinks y'all are nuts (my scaredy-cat side), and part of me thinks it is TOTALLY AWESOME (the semi-educated side)! ;)
Wow guys! Looks neato, keep posting about the bees!!
Hooray for bees! They are fun, aren't they? They look great, and I'm excited for you to do these. Now we just have to get you into the Utah County Beekeeper's Association with us! It would be nice to have more familiar faces at the meetings!
I feel the drone bees' pain- Ben
If I start hearing you guys buzzing, I'm calling the exterminator.
NO, but seriously - I've thought about doing this too. And now that I've seen the nightmare-producing photographs, I've decided against it. Those little guys are freaky! I'll just buy my honey, thankyouverymuch. Ever seen the Bee Movie? I love how Jerry Seinfeld bee freaks out when he sees the honey bear container.
Are you saying that maybe I should hold off on buying the wasp spray and torching every flying insect I see in the area! Really, it's on our list to get - I can't tell the difference when they are flying! :)
My famiy started Miller Honey Company...my grandpa's father actually. I love the stories of my grandpa as a little boy going door to door during the depression selling honey as their business started to grow. We love the honey, love the idea for people like you and Eric...that can pull off this adventure!! I'm excited to hear how things continue to progress!
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