Thanks in large part to our awesome hive share sponsors, we installed seven new colonies of bees in our apiary this spring! 

We picked up our package bees through our local beekeeping club, they originated from a large breeder in California. They spent a night in our house before we were able to install them, much to the chagrin of our dogs who gave the boxes of bees a wide berth. The bees, once packaged, travel a few days by truck to their destinations. Their cage includes a can of food (sugar syrup) and a new, young queen (in her own separate cage for protection so the bees inside can get used to her).

Getting all the new hives ready for bees! We had some already drawn comb from previous years to give the bees a bit of a head start so they wouldn’t have to make it all from scratch.

A tiny native bee (not sure the type but she’s not a honeybee – maybe a miner bee?) came to catch a quick, free meal while we were feeding our new bees. This is the only time we give sugar to our bees, when we are establishing new hives. Right now there is no nectar available, and with no chance to store any food they need something to get them by until the nectar flow starts.

Roman shaking the last few bees from one of the boxes.  They are all settled in and we give them a wish and a hope they get themselves established and make it through the next week so we can find eggs in each colony – a sign all is well in the hives!