MONTANA LACE

I picked up a surprise package today! The local supplier I purchased my bees from had a few that hadn’t been picked up. They didn’t want them to be left to die so I adopted one, and by one, I mean roughly 10,000. I quickly purchased another hive set up for my new lovelies and drove them out to their new home. Unfortunately, in the haste, I wasn’t able to give their hive flair! Nonetheless, they are installed and happy. (The weather was a little rainy but the poor bees had already been in the package container for 4 days.)  I will continue to wait with great anticipation for my first hive inspections!

So… the day I picked up my lovely ladies (and gents) Montana decided it wanted to rain on my parade. I had to keep them at home for an extra day. I put them on a sheet and placed it on a shelf in our basement. Our basement stays cool which helped the bees regulate their temperatures.  Every few hours I sprayed them with sugar water,  I wanted to make sure they had full bellies until they could be delivered to their new home.

On to the install. As you may know, where I am keeping my bees is, well, in the middle of nowhere. After driving down the interstate for 30 mins you get on a highway for another 15 mins, from there, you spend the next 45 – 60 mins on dirt roads to reach our property. My war pony makes this trip with her eyes closed. The bees, however, weren’t in love with the chitty-chitty bang-bang required to get to their new home. Once we got there, I sprayed them with sugar water so they could occupy their selves while I prepped.

A couple of weeks prior to my package being shipped I installed a stand for my hive boxes. Experts in my area suggested that I tilt the front of my hives forward just ever so slightly – I did just that.

Now, the moment I had been waiting so long for – installing my ladies (and gents)! I had researched a few different methods for installing. I chose to use the typical method of jarring them down and pouring them into the hive frames. I can’t explain how amazingly satisfying this was… I immediately became overwhelmed with excitement, happiness, and curiosity all in one fell-swoop! It was like the bees knew exactly what was being politely asked of them, one by one they found a place in the hive, until there was enough room for everyone.

I stood there and took in the moment, calmly placed the remaining frames, my feeders, and covers. I had officially installed my first package of bees. GO ME.