Getting Set...

My tendency is to skip over a lot in the chronology of setting up our hives. Well before we got our bees we had to do several things to prepare:

• We attended class each month to learn about site preparation, various feeding options, etc. This also allowed us to hear from experienced beekeepers to learn the different ways they deal with various issues.
• We got our boxes painted and stenciled to protect the wood from the elements.
• We selected a site that we felt offers shelter for the bees.
• We prepared the site by mowing and placing 14 bags of mulch beneath where the hives would go--we did this to try and keep ants and beetles at bay.
• We built a hive stand that would hold three hives, even though we have only two hives. We wanted the extra room to expand, or to give us room to work.

This stuff did not always occur in order--you can see from the photo (below) of the hive stand after I dropped it off at our site, before we mowed or mulched. 

 When we finally placed it for real, we secured it by wiring it to a T-post that we drove into the ground. We also use ratchet straps to secure the whole hive to the stand. We did all of that securing because we know there are wild hogs on the property we are using, and we want to make it as difficult as possible for a sow to destroy our hives. 

This photo is after we placed the hives (so way out of sequence). I wanted to show the T-posts and the straps we secured our hives with.

Mulch was on sale CHEAP at Lowe's one weekend...

Waiting Time: After our preparation, we basically had to wait for our teacher, Dick Counts, to call us to say that our bees were in--our job would then be to head to his house in nearby Arp, TX to pick up our two boxes, fully of brood, bees, our Queens, and honey. We had to go get them quickly, as Mr. Counts did not want his yard filled with other people's hives indefinitely.

So, after we got the call, we hopped into Jason's new Nissan and retrieved our bees! They came  with a piece of foam in the door to the hive, and we were instructed to pull the foam out little-by-little over a couple of days to reduce shock to the bees. We donned our suits, turned Jason's Air Conditioning down low to help placate the bees, loaded his car with live bees and drove our to our site in Noonday, about 20 minutes away. That was a wild experience!

Jason is irrationally excited by danger.

Not a "good" video, but it captured our experience.

Once we got out to Noonday, we placed our boxes, peeked at our bees, and left them for the evening to get their bearings.

Jason surveying our newly-placed hives.

 

The Backstory

Who can say how perfectly rational, busy people come to get involved in the apiary sciences? My buddy, Jason, has always been tied firmly to the land. He was at one time a chef, known for using ingredients from his land in his dishes. So, his involvement makes sense--he is a natural fit. 

As for me, my wife met a man who is a member of the East Texas Beekeepers Association. We watched a couple of beekeeping documentaries on Netflix, and she decided that I needed to become a beekeeper. 

Believe it or not, I have been involved in more elaborate undertakings at the behest of the fairer sex. 

Jason and I signed up for a introductory beekeeping class, where we were able to learn a bit from well-established beekeepers, like Dick Counts, and were provided hive materials and ultimately bees. 

The class took place on one Saturday morning each month from January through May. Class consisted of Mr. Counts explaining a concept, using our textbook as a reference, taking questions from class members, and then breaking off to make hive boxes and frames. Ultimately, we ended up picking up supers full of brood and a queen, and viola! We were beekeepers! 

This blog is going to be a chronicle of this first season--we will use it as a reference for our future selves, and hopefully other newby keepers will come to see that they are not alone in their adventures. 

Making frames, February 2016

This form is a machine that kills fascists makes frames

Mr. Counts demonstrates how to reduce or enlarge the entrance to a hive as the seasons change.