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Thursday, April 23, 2015

THE QUEENS ARE OUT

The other night, I had a dream about the hives.  Isn't it fascinating how something we've never dreamed about before suddenly becomes a part of our subconscious when we get it?  In my dream, I went to the hives and they were empty.  Not a bee around.  So of course, I started worrying, ha.  Then I started worrying about the queens and if they had gotten out of their cages.  

So, I asked my boss for a 1/2 day off today.  He's so wonderful and fair and he said of course I could take the time off, especially after I said it was to check the bees.  He's excited about the bees and everyone at the office is hoping for some honey at some future point. 

Queen bee in a cage
Here is one of the queens in her cage from the day I installed them in their hives.  You can see how she's in this little box and that white, fluffy stuff at one end is the candy sugar plug that she, and the other bees on the outside, eat through to get her out.  Sometimes (rarely) this doesn't work, so that's why I was worried.

So today I took a half day off and drove to the farm from work.  I decided to put on the bee suit (no sense in pushing my luck) and checked the hives...

Queen cages
...the queens were out!!!!  YAY!!!  The sugar plugs were completely gone and eaten (food for the bees!).  I removed them as they were stapled to the frame.  I pulled out the frame in one hive and I saw the queen moving around!  Such a thrilling moment.  She's got a bright yellow spot painted on her so she's easy to see.  Wherever she was moving, the workers were following closing behind.

Bees in the hive
They were even starting to build honeycomb near where the queen cage was (you can see that above).  I didn't want to mess with them too much, this early on, they should still be left alone for a bit longer.  I refilled the feeders with sugar water, removed those cages so they don't become part of the hive, and put the tops back on.  Things are looking good!

This weekend I'll check on them again. 

20 comments:

  1. Yea! It is exciting. We will be checking the hive this weekend-It may be time to pull honey :-) Best of luck to you.

    Velva

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    1. I'm going to have to read up on the honey extracting part, ha. It is SO exciting. Hope it stays that way, ha.

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  2. I know I would be the same way worrying about them. Glad all was going well in the hives!

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    1. Yep, my mind would drift off during the day to wonder how they were doing...do they have enough food? Did I put the top on right? Did the queens get out of the cage? LOL!

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  3. After a dream like that, I would have been worried too. I’m so glad that the queens and all the bees are fine and doing well. How exciting that they are adjusting to their new home!

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    1. They seem to be doing well, so far, so good!

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  4. 1st Man,

    Dreams will make you stress until you check to make sure everything's okay.
    Your bee's look like their busy working for you :-)
    Bee.....careful, they may start charging you overtime if you keep checking in on them.....~HA~

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    1. Amen!! Yep, I think it is our mind telling us what to do, ha.

      I wonder if overtime means they'll make me take less honey? LOL!

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  5. It is wonderful to see so many pollinators. We are short on bees here.

    Hope you continue to have success.

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    1. Bees are good for everywhere huh? Thank you I hope it all continues to go well!

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  6. On a sunny day pull up a chair and watch them come and go, if you see returning bees coming back with pollen sacs on there legs its a sure sign the queen is laying, and things are progressing well, its the first sign I look for in spring then I know all is well in the hive. :-)

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    1. I love this tip. I thought I had read that on another blog. I looked today but with the rainy weather, they didn't seem active. I will look for this when I go out in a few days. Thanks.

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  7. For some reason, I cannot post lately. Maybe this will go through.

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    1. I am getting some of yours, of course I don't know which aren't. Keep trying, it's usually a 'blogger' thing from google. Sigh. I'll watch for you!

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  8. i find all of this terribly exciting! and i am learning so much too!

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    1. Well thank you for that! And best of all, you are safe!! ;-)

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  9. Things are buzzing right along...here...sorry I couldn't resist.

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  10. What happens if something happens to the queen? Will the bees leave? Do you just purchase another?

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