We were having dinner with our neighbors last Saturday night, when I checked my phone and saw a text message from a number I didn’t recognize. Even stranger was the picture in the text message…it was a swarm of honeybees…
Painting the Hives and the Honeybees Arrive
I know I’ve been a bit quite on the honeybee front, especially after our visit to Ruhl Bee Supply back in March, but we’ve really been doing all sorts of work to get ready for the spring beekeeping season! I’m always hesitant to do a blog post before the finished project is ready to present, so you’ll have to forgive me with the amount of pictures and text in this post…this project has been a long time coming!
It started with a conversation between myself and The Renaissance Man about beekeeping and what we really wanted in the year ahead. We unfortunately lost one of our hives this past winter (we’re pretty sure it was a sugar ant invasion), and were trying to figure out our strategy for the coming season. I wanted to get involved this year with a few hives of my own, and so the decision was made to add two more hives and replace the hive we lost. And what does a crafty girl do when you give her bee hives? She paints them!!!
Checking the Health of the Honeybees
I’ve mentioned this before, but for those of you who don’t know, The Renaissance Man is currently an apprentice in the Oregon Master Beekeeper Program. The program has been a great way to get started with beekeeping, and the best part is that they pair you with a bee mentor! Tom is our mentor, and he’s been an invaluable resource in our beekeeping journey. He’s come out to our house a couple of times to check on the honeybees, and he’s never farther away than a quick email when we’ve had questions. A few weekends back he came out to the house to do an “end of season” check-in on the honeybees.
We’ll be collecting honey from the bees over Labor Day weekend, so it’s important to make sure that the hives are strong so they make it through the winter.
2014 National Honeybee Day
Did you know it’s National Honeybee Day? I just found out, and if I hadn’t been looking online it would have gone unnoticed. Now that we’re beekeepers, everyday is a honeybee day! They’re even having a big awareness event today at the Portland Farmers Market.
