Run the World

Feeder in place. It's adorable.

The bees are back!

After a year off, and some pondering, I decided to try again. I opted to get bees earlier in the season, to take advantage of the spring flowers here in Eastern MA. Unfortunately, it's still pretty cold and today it's going to rain, so I got them in as quickly as I could and am hoping for the best.

Here are some things I learned:

An empty hive attracts termites. I discovered this yesterday when I went to do a final clean out. Disappointingly, they ate into some of the wooden slats but fortunately all are still useable, the bees will likely seal any holes with propolis. Also disappointing: they ate much of the comb I left behind for the bees to build on this year. Well, something did, anyway.

Making a bee feeder can be as hard as you want it to be. My husband designed a feeder for me and 3D printed it, but the grooves are off so I had to jury rig it so it wouldn't leak. Still, it works!

Bees don't fan on an overcast day. I really hope the rest of the colony makes it into the hive before nightfall. Still, I think I have enough in there for now that the queen will be OK.

Speaking of the queen, she has a red dot (I went for a marked queen this time) and her name?

Bee-yonce.