April 4th, 2004

I've been busy putting together the hive for the little bees. I decided to go ahead and build two deep supers. I'll set the hive up with only one deep super until they've drawn about seventy percent of the comb. Then I'll add the second super. If I add the second super too early they may loose heat and die. If I add it too late they may swarm. If it's a healthy colony they will produce two thousand new bees every day. So by the end of the first month they should be ready for the second deep super.

around us like bumble bees, wasps, carpenter bees, hornets. These creatures are not out to get us. They want many of the same things we want; food, shelter, family, friends and good weather.

The bees are going to try and keep the hive at about ninety-two degrees F. I've drilled a hole in the middle of the front of each super the size of a wine bottle cork from, what else, a bottle of mead wine. This will help ventilate the hive when the weather gets hot.

will be attracted to the hive.

I've chosen a spot for their little home. It faces southwest, has a wind break behind it to the north and some shrubs next to it on the west. It's placed so it gets the morning light and some of the afternoon sun but in dappled light. I have a bird bath that I hope to keep filled with water so they can cool the hive down.

We have a lot of flowering herbs and other flowers on our property and we keep a small garden, but I plan on growing some giant sunflowers (helianthus annuus)

I've painted the hive a light colored green to reflect light and not add solar heat to the hive and to blend in with the landscape. The design of this hive is the most commonly used one by beekeepers. Its based on one invented in 1851 by Lorenzo Langstroth.

When I tell people that I'm going to keep a hive they act shocked, like why would anyone want to keep a hive of bees. Some express a sense of facination, others are are afraid of bees. Some think that this will be a dangerous thing to do. There are so many stinging insects that we see often. How many times have you sat at a picnic table near in the park with a trash can nearby and have yellow jackets come join you for lunch? There are all kinds of stinging insects

and some dwarf varieties. I have some moonwalkers that should grow to five or six feet and I have some Mammoths that will get to twelve feet tall! I'll be sure to add some photos of them on these web pages. The bees like these for pollen and nectar. I also have a parasol mix but they are a pollenless variety. But these bees will have plenty of garden stuff here to choose from. We have all kinds of Hyssop and Russian Sage and wild flowers for them to pick through.

I'm going to use a front feeder for now. I have some old Ball jars that my grandmother used for canning peppers and things. These are the old "Perfect Mason" Ball jars. They're big. You can't get these jars any more. These jars are from the time when people did a lot of canning back when I was very young. In those days my dad would take us and my grandparents to one of several farms out in the country and we would pick all kinds of things; apples, peppers, whatever was in season. It was always a good time.

I thought of my grandmother and grandfather as I washed out the old jars. How many times did she wash them out just like this, carefully scrubbing away any debris left from the previous canning. My grandparents are from Macedonia, in Mechesta; farming country. These are honest hardworking people. They were together forever. Her name was Goldie, my grandfather's was George. She passed away in November of ninety-four at the young age of eighty two. My grandfather, George, passed away two months later at the age of ninety eight.

I took special care to clean these jars and I probably spent more time cleaning them than they needed. These jars should hold a fair amount of syrup and help take good care of the little bees.

Next week the bees should arrive. They will have traveled all the way from Luisianna. Stop by and visit next week and see how they take to their new home.

I've also built a hive stand to keep the hive off the ground and away from pesky mice and other critters like skunks and racoons. If I have to I'll place a little carpet of tacks in front of the hive to keep them from aggravating the bees.

We've had skunks around our area. On some summers nights all of a sudden you will just smell a skunk, like it's just walked right through the house, so I know we've got them around here and I'm sure they

These bees will cover a wide range so they won't limit themselves to our little yard. They will travel up to three miles from their little hive searching out pollen and nectar from all over. In some amazing way they will find their way back to the hive.