First Chastain Hive Inspection 2014

Only one hive overwintered at Chastain.  My nuc and my unmated queen hive from the Fatbeeman (I will never recommend him to anyone again) both died/absconded before winter began and Noah's hive there died as well.

The first official hive inspection for Metro Atlanta Beekeepers was held on Saturday, March 1.  Julia was in charge of it and we had nine people coming to learn.  Some had attended the short course and others were members of MABA.

We found the hive alive and doing medium well.  It wasn't busting out of the seams as some others are right now, but there was evidence of a laying queen (we saw eggs and small larvae).  We also saw some drone brood as well as worker brood.  It was a coldish day, just barely over 50, so we worried a little about the passing around of frames, but this is a teaching hive and supposed to be a learning experience.  In other words, we probably sacrificed some brood for the experience of the participants.

One beekeeper borrowed a veil of mine and I'm embarrassed to say that there were THREE holes that I was unaware of in the veil material.  So she got a bee or two inside her veil.  It was an opportunity to show the participants how to move slowly and we were able to encourage the bees to leave with no harm to her!

If you can't see the slideshow below, here is a link to it.  Here is a slideshow of our inspection:

Speaking at Intown Jewish Preschool

Last Monday I gave three short workshops to the Intown Jewish Preschool - to the 2s, 3s, and 4-5s. The children were adorable. Each class tried on my grandson's bee veil, wore wings I borrowed from my friend Mickey, and felt honeycomb. We all did the round dance and the circle dance.

I had a great time and I think they did as well.









The fours/fives had been studying bees. They even knew the parts of the bee's body (the head, the thorax, the abdomen). I was impressed. And they asked really good questions.



This little girl had gotten to be the queen bee last year and couldn't wait for her turn to be the queen this year!



All in all, we had fun and I think the children learned a lot.

Science and Technology Fair at Montgomery Elementary

On Thursday night, I ran a booth at the fair about bees - the kids loved trying on the bee hat when they stopped by my demonstration. I had honey for them to taste and a board showing how the bees raise their young in a frame. This is my second year as a part of this science fair. I think the kids all had a good time.

Introducing Buckhead to Bees and Beekeeping

Yesterday my friend Jay and I had a table at the Buckhead Heritage Festival to show how bees are kept.  Jay brought his observation hive and honey to sell.  I brought bee veils for the kids to try on, honeycomb to pick up, honey to taste, and lip balm to sell.  We had a great time and the groups that stopped by our table were enthusiastic.

Jay talking to kids about his observation hive.

Me, talking to one of our many child visitors.

Everyone looked for the queen but we never found her (she's probably in the box below instead of walking around on the frame that was lifted up).

Here are pictures of the many kids in bee veils who stopped, tried them on and were willing to have their picture taken.

They had a great time and so did we!

Visiting Clairmont Elementary School

Yesterday I started my day in Clairmont Elementary School in the Pre-K class. There were 18 kids there who had learned a lot about ants and now wanted to learn about bees.

I had so much fun. The children tried on two bee veils that I passed around.



Here is my friend Tracy's daughter, Ella, looking snappy in her bee veil and gloves. Tracy, her dad, had bees in his family when he was a kid. Ella was my assistant and helped in so many ways during the presentation.



We talked about how beekeepers put the bees in boxes and about how the bees build and live in honeycomb. They liked hearing that the bees don't wipe their feet when they come inside the house so after a while the comb isn't white any longer but is dirty and brown from bee footprints.



We all did the circle dance and the waggle dance together.

Then before I left everyone got to taste honey. I had a great time and I think they did too. One of the joys of bee-ing a beekeeper is getting to share information with other people.

Visiting a Preschool

Here is my grandson Dylan in his bee veil. He showed his friends at preschool today how he is protected from the bees when Grandma works in the beeyard.


Today I was lucky enough to get to go talk about bees at my grandson's preschool. The class members were betwee 2 and 3 years old!

They got to feel honeycomb.



They tried on Dylan's bee veil.



They tasted honey on popsicle sticks.



And they did the waggle dance - I didn't get a picture of that because I was dancing with them!

Unsuccessful Swarm Capture (So Far)

As my grandson (age 2) and I were shoveling chips from a tree removal and taking them in the wheelbarrow to put in my flower beds, I looked up and saw the swarm below hanging in a very young Japanese maple in my neighbor's yard.


Dylan and I both ran inside and put on our bee veils. He stood right beside the wheelbarrow about 15 feet away while I approached the swarm with a cardboard box. Literally when I was one step from the swarm, the branch broke with the weight of the hive and the bees fell to the ground.

I picked up the branch (and bees) and put them in the cardboard box, but about three hours later, all of the bees had left the box and were hanging on both sides of the cardboard I had set up as a ramp to the box as well as in a clump on the ground. The queen obviously was still not in the box when the branch was put there.

After Dylan went to bed, at twilight, I tried to slide the bees on the ground onto a sheet or onto another piece of cardboard but was unsuccessful and got stung several times. I've left outside the box, the sheet and the cardboard ramp. I don't know how to manage this swarm.

Maybe they'll leave in the morning and maybe they will all be in the box (RIGHT....) I've posted on Beemaster to see what other beekeepers think I should do about this swarm. I only have a nuc to put them in and maybe they'll go there - it's in my carport within fifteen feet of the swarm and there have been scout bees sniffing around it for the last few days.

Working the Yard with Linda T's Bees

When I set up my two non-deck hives, Melissa and Devorah, my daughters told me that my backyard wouldn't be touched when the yard guys came. Sure enough last week, they worked on my front yard but completely ignored my backyard.

Today I was there when they arrived. I stopped one of the men and asked him about the backyard. "We're too scared of the bees," he said. I asked if he would do it if I gave him a net for his head. "OK," he said but he looked skeptical. The fellow working with him told me that he himself was allergic to bees and his throat swelled shut if he got stung. "You don't need to be in my backyard," I said.

The first guy put this camping mosquito net I have over his head and proceeded to weed whack and blow off the backyard. He seemed somewhat reassured when I told him that bees don't really hear and that the loud noise wouldn't bother them. He should, however, try not to fling stuff into the front of the hive.



He did a fabulous job, the bees ignored him altogether, and I took his picture while he worked. He didn't get stung and we agreed that I would leave this camping headdress on a hook in my carport so that he could work in the back this summer.



I kept my fingers crossed the whole time because it was very cloudy and thunder was starting. The bees can be easily aroused under those conditions, but the bees in both yard hives did their thing and ignored his yard work.

Of course, I gave him a jar of honey and promised more when I harvest this year!

Bee Talk at Atlanta History Center

Today I did three talks at the Atlanta History Center about harvesting honey as a part of their Harvest Day event. I took bee stuff to help illustrate what I had to say. Here's what my table looked like - you can see that I took an empty frame, a frame with small comb built on it, a frame with larger comb and a completely filled frame. I also took a borrowed model hive - an 8-frame medium. I took my hat and veil, my gloves, my bee brush. I had some honey to show how you harvest it - cut comb, chunk and clear. And I took wax both in my big wax block and in smaller blocks.

The kids who came liked trying on my bee veil and tasting honey. This is the first time I've given a talk about beekeeping to non-beekeepers and I had fun. I hope I get to do it again.