The beekeepers

Well it's that time of the year again.

Well really it's our first time.

Time to check to see if the bees made it 

through the winter.

First of all we took off the insulation from the outside

It's not really necessary to cover your beehive.

But we would rather be safe than sorry.

In our area it's not really the cold that 

will kill the bees because it honestly

doesn't get all that cold here.

It's also very windy here. But like the cold that's not a killer either.

The killer in these parts in the winter is the lack of snow 

for insulation.

So we make sure that we insulate the hives so it'll

act like the snow would have done in

normal parts of the world. 

We have strong winds here in Nova Scotia and it burns plants in the 

winter and can make the temperature feel like it's a lot colder 

than what it really is because we also have the humidity.

But if we had some snow for insulation it wouldn't kill 

the plants with the wind.

A friend of mine used to live in Nanuvut where it gets f-f-f-freezing.

Yet he said here in Southwest NS it feels  a lot colder 

than it did in Nanuvut.  Go figure!

The humid cold goes right through your bones. You can't warm up.

It's strange.  It rarely gets colder than -15 Celsius  here.  I mean hardly

ever.  But it feels a heck of a lot colder than that.

Brrrrrr

So anyway, enough with the weather forecasting. 

We took the insulation off, 

cleaned out the wet straw and started taking apart

the frames, one by one.

We had never seen the queen.  So that was our mission.

I took pictures of every frame Dave took out for closer 

inspection later.

This frame still had capped  honey on it!

We were very happy to see this.  That meant they could

have handled a longer winter.

Very proud of our girls!

And there she is!  Right in the middle, circled.

The Queen bee!

We both had on our full suits.  When you do an inspection 

like this you need full protection.

And you can see why from this picture.

We were halfway through the inspection when I asked Dave,

" We forgot the smoker, didn't we?"

Whoops.

Well if we can do a full inspection without smoking the bees

I guess we are either pretty good, stupid or very docile bees.

The jury is still out on that one. 

We are waiting for another nuc to come in.

But with the coronavirus and the travel restrictions

we're not sure if they will come in or not.

They come from New Zealand.

And no planes are coming in and out yet.

I'm hoping that they will let them come into the country soon!

So here's to hoping we'll have a fruitful honey season!

This girl was already coming in with pollen on her legs!

Have a Blessed Day!
Lisa

oh and btw...

I love reading your comments and I would love it more

if I could answer them.  Unfortunately either google or

blogger won't let me log in to answer them.

Rest assured that I read all comments!

So keep them coming!

To Bee or not to Bee part deux

A few years ago I posted that I was going to begin beekeeping.

Well that didn't pan out.

For several reasons

Dave wasn't really into it.

Jamie was NOT into it.

Time

Money

and the biggest reason was

I was chicken.

yup there it is in 

black and white.

I was chicken.

I had read and researched and read some more

and I still can't wrap my head around beekeeping.

And the word Swarm is enough to scare the crap

out of any non beekeeper out of their wits.

I kept saying that if I could find someone to show me their bees.

Let me be around them while they're working on them..

you know, up close and personal.

Well one day I was having a meeting with our regional garden club head honcho

 and mentioned that one day I'd like to give it a go. But told her about working with 

a beekeeper. She had just the person. Angela Goodwin.

She sent our email to Angela and here I am....

I got up close and personal with the bees!!!

Dave came with me also and he was pretty good with it. 

Neither one of us freaked. Everything was calm, as it should be when you're working with bees.

We loved it!

We learned the difference between Langstroth and Top bar beehives.

Initially we wanted topbar. But we're going Langs.

They had bee jackets for us to use and it was all very calming 

and almost hypnotic.

It's true...the bees ignore you. They have a job to do and you're not it!

Just don't get in their way.

I get more freaked out when I have a bug jacket on and the blackflies

are dive bombing you than I did with hundreds of bees flying around your body. 

We learned so much that I don't remember half of what she said! 

But after reading for 3 years now...I'm ready.

I've stalled long enough.

Time to jump in with both feet.

Of course it's too late for this year but

I'll be putting in my bee order this fall for the spring.

And I can't wait to be a new-bee!!!

gently smoking the bees

opening the hive

when bees are left to do what comes naturally like make a comb, they'll actually create channels, shortcuts,
so they won't have to go all the way around!

Just a wee bit more smoke

getting beezy (sorry couldn't help myself)
really learning the difference between worker and drone

Solar wax extractor

So there you have it.
Our bee day.

Also a big thank you to Angela and her partner for sharing her bees and her time with us.

Have a Beelessed Day!
Lisa