Bees Delayed

Apparently cool and rainy weather in California means the bee packages arrive later.  You all know that bees cant fly in rain?  Apparently the winter storm in the midwest isnt helping things either.  I suspect its all going to be ok.  The later they come, the less sugar water I should have to feed them before the nectar starts flowing.

I have the hive all set up in the yard.  I put down some old shingles under the hive so grass wont grow underneath.  I would hate to go out there with a weedwacker to get rid of the grass underneath!  I bet I would get swarmed!  I leveled the hive with a couple of wood blocks.  When its level, gravity should make the comb nice and straight.  To start, I put in 10 top bars.  That should give the ladies some room to work.

Speaking of ladies, did you know all the worker bees are female?  The males pretty much dont do anything except mate with the queen.  They laze around the hive all day eating honey and kicking their feet up.  Sounds pretty boring to me!  I'd rather explore the world and see the flowers!

Garden Art

We got all the kids together this morning for some garden art!  Emma, Ginny and Walter painted the beehive!  Grandpa provided the stencils, stamps and paint.  I think it was a great way to get the kids involved with the beekeeping!  They had a lot of fun putting colorful designs on the hive.  I really liked the snail and butterflies!  Here's what it looks like now: