While walking around the field one afternoon, I noticed honey bees flying into a tree trunk by the pond.
I started to wonder if we could catch them and produce honey. Can’t get anymore local than your own backyard😉
We like to use honey as a sweetener for our tea and also as a natural way of soothing allergies.
My plan was very simple: get a bee hive, place it next to the tree with honey in it and wait.
The bees would get hungry, smell the honey, fly in and out, and bring in their queen! Voilà !!!
Simple right?!!
In the meantime, we bought a beautiful Flow hive kit.
It took a few weeks to get to us and a couple days to put together.
Then I placed it by the tree and waited.
Nothing happen, so I signed up for a bee-keeping class and learned that it doesn’t work that way.😒
As it turns out “Texas Bee Supplies” has a store really close to us so I called in on the experts.
Spring was full on, and after a very informative class with the pros, I decided to just buy a nuc.
What is a nuc?
A nuc is a box containing a starter bee hive : A queen, her bees and a few frames of brood, pollen and honey.
Before picking up the nuc, I wanted to make sure the hive was placed in a safe and comfortable spot.
We decided to place it along the tree line, by the pond. We put up a fence around it to keep the donkeys and other creatures away.
Finally, the day came to go pick up the bees. I put on my super-suit, and off we went to the bee supply store.
Mike and Papa Smith joined me while the boys stayed back with grandma and the donkeys. Grandma and Papa Smith happen to be visiting just as the bees were ready to be picked up.
The bee pick-up was an interesting experience: basically, it is a drive-thru for beehives. Cars form a line along the field where all the hives are lined up. After checking in, someone places a box full of bees in your trunk and off you go!
Slowly I open the box and transferred the frames full of bees in their new home!
And Voila!!!
Soon, the brood box was full and we had to add another brood box which filled up really fast too…we took a couple frames out (only 2) and replaced them with empty ones and then added the super.
It was honey time and we were not ready…So we improvised!
A set of strainers, plastic cups, bowls and a few jars…let me tell you: Honey is a sticky, messy business 😅
Check it out!! Our “can’t be anymore local than that” honey! …
After studying a little more, I decided to let the bees be for a while. Every couple weeks, I would visit and check on the super.
After a good cleaning (by the bees), we collected the wax and made lip balm.
Nothing goes to waste.
Regarding the addition of the honey super on the brood box, I wasn’t very successful. The weather may have played a role in it, since we were in a drought and there was very little for them to feed on. I supplemented with syrup and pollen patties. They seemed to actually do fine and stayed pretty active, even tho the hive shrunk as expected with the cooler months.
And then the DONKEYS…Rowdy and Grayson broke into the bee yard..not once but twice. They didn’t seem to enjoy the bee surprise the first time so I was surprised when they did it again and at the worst time ever. They broke in just a couple hours before the Ice storm! The 2 managed to knock the hive off its base and pop the roof.
I brave the ice and cold and rushed down to reassemble the hive as fast as I could, but it was too late.
The poor bees froze solid! 😢
I was hoping that maybe the queen and a few survived…but No…and if they did the big storm that followed blew the hive in pieces against the fence…which then was picked on by some jackasses…(literally)
Well I picked it up, cleaned it and put it away so it doesn’t get chewed on anymore. I ordered new bees and while waiting for them, we are building a new bee yard, with big posts, heavier duty fencing and a gate!! Also, we will add anchors to strap the hive into place against heavy winds and Jackasses!!!
And I am coming up with a plan to insulate the hive better against ice and cold…
This is not over!!! We will build back and better!
I will keep you updated. In the meantime we made honey-peppermint chapstick and are enjoying the last of the honey. 🐝
