This weekend, we crossed a boundary, going from solely raising plants to an addition of animals to the mix. While bees are technically not considered domesticated, they do increase the level of care we need to provide to living things on our property.
Bees come in one of two starter sets - a package or a nuc. A package of bees is simply a cage containing 2 to 3 pounds of bees, a can of sugar syrup, and a smaller cage containing the queen. While the process of transferring the bees from the package to their hive requires many steps, it basically amounts to dumping the bees into the hive, placing the queen, while still in her cage, into the hive, and closing the hive up. The queen's cage has a hole blocked by a candy or marshmallow plug. Over the course of a few days the workers will eat the plug to release the queen, while the queen releases pheromones so the workers accept her and not kill her. A nuc consists of a box containing five frames of bees, eggs, brood, and honey, with a queen. To make the transfer, you simply open the box, transfer the frame into the hive, add five empty frames, and close up the hive. A package of bees is cheaper, but if you have a hive without comb already drawn, the bees have to create comb from scratch for raising brood and storing honey. The frames of the nuc already have drawn comb, so the bees have a head start.
We placed an order for a nuc of bees with Kruse Family Farm in Hillpoint, about 40 minutes from our property. The pickup date was originally April 23, but because this has been one of the coolest springs in several years, the pickup date was pushed back a week in the hopes it would warm up. I spent the extra week setting up our hive and watching videos about transferring bees. In the videos, the box was taped shut with duct tape, to keep the box from opening during transport. The pickup instructions from the beekeeper mentioned bringing a bee suit for the pickup. Since the boxes are sealed, I wondered what the bee suite would be for, but packed it in the car.
When bee pickup day arrived, it was yet another cold and rainy morning - the kind of weather bees hate. Fortunately, the rain stopped and the temperature rose as we drove to the farm to get the bees. We arrived and found a row of nucs arranged on a flat bed trailer. The beekeeper came over, introduced himself, and walked us over to the nucs. He opened one up, and said it had 'lots of bees'. It looked like a lot of bees to me, and there certainly were bees everywhere. I was starting to understand why his instructions included bringing a bee suit. The bees were also quite loud, and it was not a happy buzzing. He picked the nuc up, and walked it over to our vehicle. We had brought an SUV, not a car with a trunk, so we would be riding with the bees. I also noticed the box was not taped shut. The beekeeper helpfully suggested we put something on top of the box, so it did not open in transit and release 3,000 bees into the vehicle with us. He also mentioned they were probably hungry. I placed a coat on top of the box and along the side to help keep it from tipping, and Maggie added a few other items she had purchased at an Amish store on the way.
We pulled out of the driveway and slowly drove home, both of us thinking what it would be like to get into an accident and be trapped in a car with a swarm of angry, hungry bees. We made it home uneventfully, and when I pulled the box of loud bees from the back of the SUV, there was only one lone bee on the outside of the box. I placed the box next to the hive, lit our smoker, put the bee suit on, and walked back over to the hive.
I had wanted to take some photos of the bees during the transfer. However, the threat of rain had returned and I found that wearing gloves was not ideal for taking pictures. As I begin to transfer bees to the hive, they flew everywhere. They were also quite loud. It was a little overwhelming. I tried to work slowly so as not to alarm the bees, and not to emit an odor the bees would take as fear. I added a couple of jars of sugar solution, put the cover on the hive, and that was that. As the day progressed, I could not resist visiting the hive and watching the bees come and go. The hike is supposed to be left alone for around 10 days to let the bees settle in.
The next morning, I walked out to the hive and heard... nothing. The hive was silent, and there were no bees to be seen. The temperature was in the low 40s, and it seems unlikely I could have killed so many bees so quickly, so I assumed they were huddled together for warmth. As the week progressed, the weather continued to be cold and rainy, keeping the bees from venturing out. There were still few flowers out, so it seemed to be the worst week possible to get bees. Based on the few flowers I had found in bloom and my records from previous years, spring seemed about 2 weeks behind this year.
The weather finally improved today, with temperatures in the 60s. The bees finally had a chance to explore. Maggie found them attracted to a tablecloth on our patio. They seemed interested in the maple tree flowers that had dropped onto the tablecloth, but I liked to think they were fooled by the sunflower pattern. Finding so many bees so far from the hive is a little unsettling, but hopefully they will spread out more as we get more flowers.
Because our frames are brand new, the bees will have to spend a lot of time this season drawing out comb. It is unlikely we will get much honey this year, but the bees should improve pollination in our garden. Maggie did wonder if we really needed more squash.
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