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With the 40 degree day we had, Kraig took a walk to check on the solo beehive in the backyard. Typically, we will stand at the front and just press his ear to the hive to hear the buzz of the bees. Then, he will remove the front entrance reducer, and use that to sweep out any dead bees. He lifted off the top cover and looked inside. All the bees had previously perished. When Kraig told me the sad news, I felt a sense of mourning. Sound silly right? But when you feed them in the spring and fall, provide occasional water, and keep their hive safe, you feel that sense. Now what do I do? I just can’t dig a hole in the frozen backyard and bury them so my only choice is to take each frame out one by one. I will remove as much of the bees as I can leaving behind the comb and remaining honey store. I will then spread out the little carcasses in the dormant wildflowers beyond the hive. Anything left behind on the frames, the next colony of bees we install will do all the housekeeping. Housekeeping is when the bees physically remove the dead bees from the colony.
Install. It sounds like I am getting ready to install a program on a computer but in the bee world of things, it means placing about 3 lbs, or 15000 bees into a hive box. Where do the bees come from you may ask?
But first a little history of how we got into this hobby somewhat of a business adventure.
My niece, Jenae, was doing a 4H project with guidance from a local beekeeper and Jenae’s parents, Lisa and Dave, got involved in the learning process. As Lisa shared the excitement with me, I became more interested. After all, the bees could help with our pollination of fruit trees and vegetable plants at the farm. So I took the steps to get ready for ‘delivery’ of bees. I bought a beehive suit and bee gloves. We placed the order through her and contact was made to the apiary in South Dakota. We were now going to be official beekeepers!
Before you buy bees, know the terms.
Nuc (nucleus colony) is a term used to describe a collection of about 3 lbs bees in various stages of development. They are an established mini colony with a queen bee. The bees are already at work on the 2-5 wooden or plastic frames. Each frame is then picked up and placed into the new beehive.
Package is a term to describe 3 lbs of bees with an isolated queen bee that are in a rectangular wood box with a small jar size lid. To place the bees, remove the lid and gently shake into the bee hive.
Each has its advantages and disadvantages and we recommend reading the Bee Keeping for Dummies
We have been beekeeping since 2014 and we are always learning new things about bees and we enjoy the benefits they have to offer. We have had success with both nucs and packages but for us in our northern rural area, it is more difficult to invest in a nuc. We like to buy our bees online from www.mannlakeltd and we can make the drive to Hackensack, MN to pick up the new brings and bring em back to the farm.
