We Are Beekeepers

Finally, after a few weeks of delay, our honeybees have arrived.  We ordered two "nucs" (nucleus) which means they come packaged with a queen bee, some brood (baby bees), honey stores and about 30,000 other bees (workers and drones).  This is a small colony which should double in size over the next few weeks. And we have two colonies! Amy suited up and came with me to the county Agriculture Center, which is conveniently located 1 mile from our home.  We collected our nucs - packaged in these sturdy cardboard boxes and secured with duct tape.

Notice my cute little helpers.  Pictured below is Emily - all suited up behind me.  She comes with me to my monthly beekeeping classes at the Ag Center and even takes notes.  We have a fabulous friend at the club (who is also our neighbor) who's kids have outgrown their bee suit, so she has graciously loaned it to us so our kids can be involved too.  Em was great at spraying sugar water on the honeycomb and helping me look for the queen bee. 

Here is a photo of one of the nuc frames installed into the hive:

The comb has been 'drawn out' or built out for space for the brood and/or honey.  These boxes will primarily be used for brood.  Later in the summer I will put on the honey supers and be able to harvest the excess.

The smoker is a pretty fun tool -  great for directing traffic in the hive.  I wish I had a similar tool that worked for children in the home! 

Amy was my helper on the second nuc installation.  She is very fond of the bees and loves them as if they were a cuddly pet.  She is very patient and helpful during the inspection process and is a useful source of factual knowledge. 

We've got the bees situated in a nice corner of our lot, facing southeast towards the farmer's field next door so they will have plenty of early morning sunlight and ample space for foraging.  We hope they'll have fun visiting our own garden and berry patches (posts to come)!