I can't believe it's been almost a year since I started my first bee hive! I first met Cleo and the girls in the first hive the 2nd week in May. Nefertari (Tari) and her hive followed 2 weeks later.

I learned a TON from them. For instance, when one gets a bee inside the veil, running and screaming through the yard will NOT prevent the inevitable sting And, don't let old beekeepers fool you, the stings still hurt!

The dogs respected the hives from the start, which surprised me. Toni has been known to eat wild bees, so I was afraid she'd look at the hives like a buffet. The dogs would approach the hives cautiously and quietly, and I don't think any of them even got stung all summer. Toni took one on the nose last month when we checked the hives and a couple came out a little testy.

Neither Tari or Cleo swarmed on me, which was my greatest fear. I guess they think that my hives were roomy enough and the yard was pleasant enough to stay. I enjoyed many evenings sitting out in the yard and watching them enjoying an adult beverage... they would let me sit about 3 feet from the hive without bothering me. It was especially entertaining in the fall when the girls kicked the males out of the hive.. the little ladies would literally wrestle them to the door and kick them out

We wintered the girls over through one of worst winters in WI in a VERY long time. Beekeepers in our club are reporting anywhere from 80-100% loss, but our 2 hives came through strong and ready to go. Of course, Paul built them a special shelter... and I can't even get him to wash dishes for me!!

Paul has ordered 4 more hives. One will arrive this weekend and the other 3 will be here in about 3 weeks. I look forward to learning more about these furry little bugs, and enjoying many more evenings watching them But I need names for the Queens!! Any thoughts?

--Kel

(I think one needs to be "Connie")

I'm glad it's working out so well for you Kelly. Are you ordering queens, full colonies, or are you splitting off of your current hives?

We ordered one 3 lb package with a Queen, and the other 3 are 5 frame nucs. The package is the one coming this weekend. The nucs take a little longer to build up the brood before they can be sent.

Paul also wants to split Cleo's hive so we may be ordering a new queen for that hive as well.

For those that don't know, a package of bees is just that. A wire package of bees with a queen. Nothing else comes with it.

A nuc is like a mini hive. They have an established laying queen along with 5 frames of a hive full of brood (eggs, larvae, etc) in various stages of development. For a person just getting into it, a nuc is the way to go. My first 2 were nucs.

A frame is a panel that fits into the hive box. It's where the bees build out the wax comb and lay eggs, store honey and pollen. My hives are 9 frame hives, so each box has 9 frames in them instead of 10.

Sounds promising. We never got to the point with our bees where we were truly dividing and letting them raise their own new queen. We always ordered a queen with a candy cage, split the workers and tacked a new queen in.

We also replaced queens if we noticed production was off compared to the other hives, it was usually a sign of a queen getting old. It was never fun trying to track down the old girl on a frame to squish her but it's one of those things you have to do before her girls do it for you.

I agree... definitely a Queen Connie. I'd say you HAVE to have a BEATRICE (Bee-atrice) then Cassiopeia and Bathilda.

 Quote: Melissa Thom

It was never fun trying to track down the old girl on a frame to squish her but it's one of those things you have to do before her girls do it for you.

Yeah, I'm not sure I am ready for that yet. Paul said I would get like that if I named the queens... dammit, he was right. Around here if you overwinter a hive 2 years, you're doing GREAT... so queens don't really get to be very old before you are replacing the whole colony.

 Quote: Barbara Schuler

I agree... definitely a Queen Connie. I'd say you HAVE to have a BEATRICE (Bee-atrice) then Cassiopeia and Bathilda.

Oooohh, I like Bea and Cassi... Bathilda has me stumped though. Rekon we could call her Tillie....

Well if you do it right you can go a really long time without replacing a whole colony. It's pretty easy, mail order your new queen, the day she arrives, off with the head of the old queen, the next day put the queen cage in, wait a week and then remove the queen cage. The queen is dead, long live the queen. ^.^

BTW we named the hives, not the queens. We had the Red Lion, the Hyatt, the Ramada, and the Super 8.

 Quote: Melissa Thom

BTW we named the hives, not the queens. We had the Red Lion, the Hyatt, the Ramada, and the Super 8.

I had to giggle at the Super 8... kind of a budget hive?

You could name one of the queens "Elton".
Elton John says he is the Queen of England.