Hive Visit: Thursday May 21, 2009

I picked up 2 nucs (nuc is short for nucleus, essentially a mini hive) from Benson Bees at 9am. By 11am I had , for the most part, figured out my protective bee suit, though I had an extra plastic support that (despite reading the directions carefully), I was unable to install in my suit’s headgear. The instructions clearly indicated that this piece of plastic is instrumental in preventing stings to the face; the instructions were far less clear on how it is meant to be inserted. I convinced myself that a ball cap was a more than suitable substitute.

At 11:15, I installed my bees.

Hive A
I installed Hive A second. I am referring to it as Hive A because it is closer to the trailer and therefore the first one I see on my approach. These bees seemed more sluggish. I couldn’t spot the Queen, but I confirmed that she was not left in the nuc box. The nuc has two nearly full frames of brood cells (bees soon to be born), including 20ish drone cells, one frame of honey and one empty plastic frame. The bees seemed reluctant to leave the nuc box, and when I left, many remained sitting in the box in front of their new home. I wish I had had more time to watch them drift into their home.

Hive B
Hive B seemed very strong and active with lots of bees, and virtually no stragglers in the nuc box. The nuc has two nearly full frames of brood, including 20ish drone cells, one frame of honey, one empty plastic frame. The Queen was spotted in the nuc box and carefully placed into her hive. She disappeared quickly, seemingly in good health. She has a yellow dot painted on her back, which seems like an odd colour to paint a bee if you are trying to make it stand out from the other bees – anything other than yellow, brown or black would be more obvious choices.

Treatments and Feedings
Both hives given full plastic feeders of 2:1 sugar syrup.
Both hives treated with Fumigilin B in syrup as per label.
Both hives treated with Oxysol in syrup as per label.
Later noted that OMAFRA recommends powdered sugar treatment rather than syrup.

Thoughts
Overall, I am struck by how gentle the bees are. Perhaps I was heavy handed with the smoke, but they didn’t seem to hate me. Safe inside my bee suit, I was not stung at all. I estimate if I had been naked I would have been stung only five or six times. If I had had the whole day free, I would have spent it all with my bees – they really are that captivating. I am worried that I have not seen the queen of Hive A, but I am still not very practiced at spotting queens.