Finally, the bees are here! After years of dreaming about them, and getting up the nerve to order them, then waiting for the breeder to overcome some setbacks of her own, they've arrived. I ordered a single nuc from Debbee's Bees in Westport, Ontario. I'm installing them in one of my Tanzanian top bar hives I got from Seldom Fools Apiculture in Kingston. My hive is located in my backyard on 25 forested acres just outside of Almonte, Ontario. Around here there are lots of trees, some scrubby pasture, a bit of conventional field cropping, the Mississippi River, and some lawns and gardens. Our summers are hot and our winters are cold and snowy. Spring comes in fits and starts, and fall can be beautiful or wet and cool.
This blog is a journal of my beekeeping adventures as I go from utter beginner to who knows where.
Weather: 30C Cloudy
So after an hour long car ride with a box of bees in the back seat, we arrived home and installed them in their new home. The queen was in a cage and Debbie, the bee breeder, suggested we open the cage and place it in the bottom of the hive to let her walk out on her own with minimal risk of her getting away.
We had absolutely no problems installing the bees because all we had to do was take the frames from the nuc and place them in the hive. The Tanzanian hive has straight sides and fits the standard Langstroth frames, so there were no issues with cutting the frames to fit. We also have the advantage of starting with brood and honey, which we wouldn't have if we bought a package of bees. The bees were amazingly calm.
 |
| This is my nervous face |
 |
| Luc opening the nuc box |
 |
| Me putting the open queen cage in the bottom of the hive |
 |
| Adding an empty bar and preparing to close up the hive |
 |
| Done! My silly relieved face |
