A client recently dropped off some honey at the clinic with instruction that when the honey bear was empty, let them know and they would bring more. I asked if they ever sold the bees. I got a phone call a couple of weeks later that they had a nuke ready and I could come have it. Wow! Of course I went the next day. He gave me and hour and a half of instructions which probably wasn't enough. But he also gave me his card and said call with any questions.
First, we were suppose to set the nuke on top of the hive where we wanted it so the bees would imprint on the new location. After a few days we were ready to trasfer them to the new hive body.
The bee man changes his mind a couple of times on how to arrange the frames. He ended up with 2 new 1 old, 1 new, 4 old, 2 new. J was to look for the queen but he said he didn't know what to look for so didn't really try too hard.
Even with smoking, I had to back up a bit.
I think everything went well.
They are now getting use to their new home. Now I have to order a bee feeder because it is pretty late in the season and they need to get on with making enough honey for the winter. I also need a vaporizer and some oxalic acid to treat for mites. This is to be done in September and December. Maybe we will be able to keep this hive going.
I asked how much for the nuke and he said it was free. I found out his wife use to ride and show horses and now she has a shop where she sells Breyer horses, so I thought I would put a Wrangler painting in the nuke when I return it.
2 comments:
Oh awesome! I have a friend who is learning to be a beekeeper, she lost her hives over the winter and just got a new swarm and they are doing well.
I hope yours thrive!
So much bee info in this post. I really hope this new hive will work out and establish themselves. Great idea to give a genuine horse painting - I think the horse woman will definitely appreciate such a unique gift.
Post a Comment