At work today, I received a call from P.N. Williams to tell me that my bees (the two nucs I had ordered from him) are here and I need to pick up the bees tonight. Today was a long work day for me. I started at 9 AM and worked all day and without a break, I went straight to Emory to teach a class from 7 - 9 PM. My daughter lets my dogs out during the day on Mondays because I get home late.
You always pick up nucs after dark so that the bees are all at home tucked into bed. I drove south to P.N.'s place and got there at 9:30. My car is packed with furniture that needs to go to the mountains and other stuff (see the package of paper towels in the picture), so before I could put the bees in the car, I had to rearrange things. Here are the two nucs, bungee cords holding them closed, in the back of the car. This year, as he did last, P.N. cautioned me about going over any bumps on the way home. Atlanta is full of potholes, speed bumps, and rough pavement - it would be impossible to get home without bumps. Last year when I arrived home the back of the car was full of bees, mad at the bumps, who came out to see what was what. This year as you can see, the nucs were calm and the bees were not stirring.
I walked around the house to the deck (remember last year when I carried the bees THROUGH the house - see April 2006 archive) and set each nuc beside the hive where the bees will live.
I removed the bungee cords and let the door drop open. Each nuc was full of bees. There may be more bees in each of these nucs than are still alive in Bermuda....I put a feeder on each of the hives and came inside to fix the frames so that I can install the bees tomorrow.
You always pick up nucs after dark so that the bees are all at home tucked into bed. I drove south to P.N.'s place and got there at 9:30. My car is packed with furniture that needs to go to the mountains and other stuff (see the package of paper towels in the picture), so before I could put the bees in the car, I had to rearrange things. Here are the two nucs, bungee cords holding them closed, in the back of the car. This year, as he did last, P.N. cautioned me about going over any bumps on the way home. Atlanta is full of potholes, speed bumps, and rough pavement - it would be impossible to get home without bumps. Last year when I arrived home the back of the car was full of bees, mad at the bumps, who came out to see what was what. This year as you can see, the nucs were calm and the bees were not stirring.
I walked around the house to the deck (remember last year when I carried the bees THROUGH the house - see April 2006 archive) and set each nuc beside the hive where the bees will live.
I removed the bungee cords and let the door drop open. Each nuc was full of bees. There may be more bees in each of these nucs than are still alive in Bermuda....I put a feeder on each of the hives and came inside to fix the frames so that I can install the bees tomorrow.
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