We chose to do a "No-shake" method for the bee install. We shall see if this worked well. The set up went well, though there was a bit of cursing from Mr. Awesome. I hadn't gotten some of the things ready which made it a bit more tense. I joked that next time I think I will do the installs from now on. He makes me more nervous because he is nervous.
We both had anxious butterflies beforehand. Me not having everything together was not my best idea. That added to the situation. I fly by the seat of my pants and think later... "Oh yeah! I should have...."
But what a great way to know someone really loves you when they are handling 10,000 bees! Gotta love that man! I'll check out whether the Queen broke free tomorrow or Wednesday.
We already had a big weekend gearing up for the 1st Flea market of the season for us to set up at.
Did I mention I am a terrrible procrastinator? I had to remind Mr. Awesome of a few projects I needed have done before Sunday. He jumped in with both feet of course I had forgotten that I needed to bake for a small contribution that needed to be delievered on Friday.
Glory be! My memory is not the greatest. I rely on post-it's, notes, writing on my hands, reminders on my Google Calendar, cell phone and a few other things. I say it's the Lyme but Mr. Awesome reminds me that it could also be my age.
So this weekend was busy!
This week is off to a busy start as well as we had bee pick up today. I was invited to a Potluck later this week with The Amazing Jen, JV, a new friend and our wee monkeys. I'm pretty excited. I don't have close friends. Not meaning to sound pitiful or sad. It just seems the older I get the harder it is to find and keep friendships. Several of my friends and family are busy, live in other parts of the world or work.
I was also tickled to see my parents, sister and nephew at the flea market! They don't live too far away but it's hard to visit as much as I would love to.
Speaking of the flea market... It went very well! I sold off all of my Spider plants and Peppermint. Almost all of our large items, a variety of smalls and Dreamcatchers.
I hope to have more varieties of plants/veggies and another batch of Dreamcatchers. I had some wood
sign projects in mind for over the winter but I never got around to it. That nasty procrastination thing again!
We added 4 Amberlink chicks that are 4 weeks old. I am still mourning the death of my incubator. I really wanted to give the Duck eggs a whirl.I haven't done much in the garden, the past few weeks though busy have been very tiring for me. I have finished a course of Doxy and now wait to schedule an appointment with my favorite doctor. Darned tax refund! It's been singled out apparently to research and recheck.
More garden progress:
Garlic is doing very well outside. The Asparagus has given us a sides on the side and continuous to grow wonderfully. I bought a few more Blueberry bushes from the flea market, have quite a few other plants ready to go into the garden soon! I do have to replace the seed starts I lost to that dang bunny.
That's all for now! I hope your week is as wonderful as you are!
BIG HUGS!
Mel
**UPDATE!**
This morning Mr. Awesome and I made the decision to check on the bees before I left for work. I was concerned over the events from the morning before. I asked my partner in crime if he was going to suit up or at least wear his veil. He smartly replied, "Nope! I'm just going to run away if I need to!"
GIGGLE!
I on the other hand wish to leave nothing to chance and suited up. He had gotten our frames, flashlight, brush and sugar water ready.
I admit both of us are nervous to do beekeeping. I wanted to do this for a variety of reasons.
1) To help do our part in saving the bees!
2) For honey and wax for candles, lotions, and more
3) Potentially for Bee Venom Therapy for treating my Lyme Disease
4) To conquer my fear of bees.
5) Help pollinating our crops
So I head out in awe he has gotten all this stuff ready. He is the most level headed, thoughtful, observant, quick thinking on his feet, and 2 steps ahead of me person I have ever known. I'm more, "Look something shiny!" or "Look there's a Chicken" kind of person.
We start.
I'm using slow movements and trying not to talk too much. He is not being bossy about it but trying to be helpful while also being noticeably nervous.
As we explore the hive I see the Queen cage has dropped to the bottom of the hive and now we understand why there was a cluster (bearding kind of activity) under the hive! They were doing exactly what they needed for the Queen.
I attempted to get grip on the Queen box while causing the bees to become a wee bit worried that I was harming their Queen. The gloves I wore aren't big or thick and there are about 50 bees covering my fingers as I fumble with the Queen cage. He handed me the brush to try to shimmy the cage out with the handle of it but it just kept sliding. I could literally feel the bees on the bottom of the hive playing a tug of war with me to get her.
Mr. Awesome at this point is getting flustered and wondering why am I going so slow. I am too nervous to argue or explain my actions. My gloves are slickery from the over abundant sugar water that was sprayed to help with the ticked off bees.
Mr. Awesome had the great thought of using the safety pin I had pinned on the front of my suit to attach the tab that is on the Queen cage to the back of the hive, just under the top cover. I had a dickens of a time getting it open though. First I needed to get the other cork out and the remaining bees on the cage and my gloves were not still not working with me. At this point Mr. Awesome is reminding me we have the brush to use, which I had used as well to attempt to help get the Queen cage but it didn't exactly work as it had in my head and it's covered in impatient bees!
My partner in crime is attempting to keep me calm at the same time he is getting concerned I'm not working fast enough. I could hear my heart in my ears! I'm not calm. He had to help me get the pin off my suit and he realized that it's not as easy as it looked. His hands were just as slick from the sugar water, making this task harder then it looks. Finally he had gotten it off and attaching it worked like a charm!
We put everything back but didn't put in one frame having figured we had aggravated the bees enough for one day. I plan on removing the Queen cage and inserting the frame in a few days or week.
We only had 2 passenger bees try to hitch a ride on us. One I found on Mr. Awesome and one that took a trip attached to the bottom of my boot. this brave fuzzy bee was quickly escorted them out the door.
What a way to start the morning!
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