The chill is in the air, the snow is on the ground, the bees are mellow, we're all set... then... WOOSH! The wind begins to blow... and blow... and BLOW. The biting wind will not give up and we are forced to hold off on the hiving. My yard looks like a logging operation came through and forgot the mop up. No trees were felled, but enough branches, needles and cones were scattered about, I wondered. The bees cannot keep waiting in their cage for this weather to cooperate. The anxiety of the last two days is reminiscent of the days before birthing a baby - will my babies survive? can they be safely born into this new world with so much chaos raging around them? When will it finally be the right time?
Then this evening, just as furiously as they arrived, the winds receded, and we all knew the time is now.
Sarah and I prepare the hive for the honeybee package
(the small box on top of the hive)
The honeybees are delivered in a three pound caged package. There are thousands of bees in the package - mostly female workers, a few male drones, and one precious queen in her own special queencage. The queen is the focus that binds the colony together, without her, the colony would cease to be a working unit.
The queencage hanging from a topbar
We inspect the queen, take out the cork to her cage opening, then fill it with "candy" the workers will eventually eat through to free her. In the meantime, her cage is hung from a topbar and her sweet pheromones are released, chemically bonding the colony together in one of the most miraculous displays of organization in nature.
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