I'm a newbee!

You know when you have an idea that comes on like "Ooooo I should do this thing" and you get all excited and make big plans in your head, but then you get busy doing other things and that idea fades and you never actually get around to doing it? Yeah, me too. It sounded like this. "You should start a beehive!" "Hey, remember you said that one day you'd start a beehive?" "Oh hey... beeeeeeehiiiiiive."

That idea has been coming and going in my head for years. Yeeeears.

Well. Last time that happened, it stuck around and miracles of miracles, I have finally made it a reality. I have bees now. And this is the place I'm gonna tell you all about it.

So let's start. August 4th, 2019 is the day I officially became a beekeeper when I brought home an estimated 20,000+?!#$& Italian honey bees. I'm just guessing there. I have a little bit of knowledge so that I can sorta kinda maybe hit that number in the ballpark, but I really don't know how many bees I have. I'm guessing I'll get closer to accurate as I learn more. Probably. Maybe. However I do know that my box of bees is pretty full. And heavy. There are a lot of bees in it, and honey and wax and pollen, but also a lot of bees.

Here's a little bit of info on "how many bees". Last Saturday, I met with the local beekeepers association for a mentors meeting. It's where newbees like me can talk to experienced beekeepers and they show us things and teach us things and all that. One thing that stuck out in my mind was when one guy was demonstrating how to test for mites (more on mites at a later time). But he scooped up bees in a 1/2c measuring cup. A regular ol' measuring cup that you would use to make pancakes. A half a cup. Guess how many live bees fit in a half cup?

If you're like me, you're thinking 50? A hundred? God, I don't know, bees are small, but not like super small. 75. Yeah, that sounds good.

THREE. HUNDRED. 300 bees in a half a cup. I asked him twice "That's 300 bees?" He assures me with a chuckle, "yes, I've manually counted them, and it's pretty close to accurate." There are 300 bees in just a half cup. There, that's a thing you know now in case you ever need to borrow a cup of bees from the neighbor. Maybe a 1/4 cup will do.

So yeah, I have A LOT OF BEES. This is just part of them. There are many many more still in the box!

I just got the box home and opened the hive entrance. They're confused and not all too happy about their sudden relocation service that they did not ask for.

Ok. I am a super new beekeeper. A newbie... I mean newbee. A new beek. "Beek" is slang for beekeeper because, well, I guess we're all too busy looking at bees to say bee-keep-er so it's just beek. I'm a brand new beek. I have never had bees before, I didn't personally know anyone who keeps bees, and I had never actually seen an open free flying beehive before Saturday. I'm that new.

On Sunday, I met with my bee source guy, Warren. I had been speaking with him for a couple weeks. I found him listed as a bee source on Jaxbees.com (the local beekeepers association website). I expected to pick up a "nuc" of bees. That's short for nucleus, and it is essentially a mini hive consisting of about 5-10 thousand bees, a mated queen, and 5 frames which contain both brood comb and honey comb. (I will go into more detail about the parts of a hive in a later post.) Anyway, I expected 5 frames worth of bees. I was purchasing this for $130 which is from what I've found, a pretty average, even low, price.

When I got there with my hive body which holds 10 frames, I had already taken 5 frames out to make room for what he would give me. He says "you can take out those frames, I'm gonna give you 10." And then he absolutely FILLED my hive box with bees and all the bee things inside. He points out my queen, she is about a month old, and shows me the brood pattern and I see eggs, larvae and capped brood cells. He points out these are honey cells, here's pollen, and these weird looking brood cells are drone cells. He puts all the frames in, closes the hive and sealed it up by stuffing the entrance with a paper towel. Pierre secured it all with a ratcheting tie down strap and loaded it into the truck. I give Warren some money and thank him and we talk a bit about my new adventure, before Pierre and I leave with my new charge. A hive FULL of honey bees.

I have done a lot of learning about bees. And a whole lot more since that idea of starting a beehive really took hold. Before I actually brought my bees home, I felt fairly confident that I knew what to expect and what to do with these girls. But ok. Let's be real. Once you have a hive full of bees in your face, you might suddenly forget everything you've learned and start to question your life choices. So. Many. Bees. But bees are important, and they're really neat. I want to see and do and know everything about them. And I want to tell you about it.

I'm going to share everything with you. The good, the bad and the ugly. I'll make mistakes, and I'll share that with you even if it's embarrassing. I'll share my bee knowledge what I know now and what I'll learn. I'll share my thoughts and experiences. I'll share my bee stings... none yet, but I know they're coming. And one day, if you're local, and even if you're not, I'll share my honey with you.

Welcome to my beekeeping journey! This is just the intro. I'll post again shortly. I have so much to share. Please leave comments and ask questions! 'Til next time! 🐝