March 21, 2016

Honeybee Delivery Postponed

My bee garden, ready and waiting

I spent most of last week getting my new hives ready for the arrival of the new bees. On Friday morning I set everything up. Poor Honeysuckle (taller hive in the middle) was only there for the photo, to remind me of what I hope my apiary looks like someday soon. It's not as pristine as the newly painted hives, but the paint is still good so it got a good scrubbing and sunning. I plan to hoist it up a tree to use as a swarm bait hive (yeah, right).

Of course my preparations had proper snoopervision.

Riley woke up occasionally to observe my progress.

Saturday was pick-up day, but when I showed up for my bees I was told delivery had been postponed until next Saturday. Somehow I didn't get the email. sigh

I confess to being just a tad disappointed (a big tad) because everything is starting to bloom. That's a week my bees will miss! Oh well.


30 comments:

PioneerPreppy said...

Did they mention what was up or why they were postponed? Where are they being shipped in from?

Chris said...

You must have the most stylish bee-hives in town! I love the colour combos.

Jason and Michelle said...

I love your helper!
We are just starting to have the plants come up here. I'm looking forward to slightly warmer weather.

Dawn said...

Thats a shame but next Saturday will come soon enough, you never know if your bees decide to swarm they might just move into honeysuckle its sometimes handy to have an empty hive on hand :-)

Erin said...

Oh no! And it looks like it was such good weather as well!

Quinn said...

Are they delayed because of cold weather predicted en route? (It's snowing here.)
Your hives look lovely and welcoming. Great job, Riley!

Leigh said...

I'm guessing they told all in the email, except I didn't get the email. :(

Leigh said...

Thanks! Funny how this is one thing where I don't mind getting "wild."

Leigh said...

Me too. I just hope it doesn't get hot too fast.

Leigh said...

LOL, Dawn who knows. It sure would be nice to have three of them full of bees and bee goodies. :)

Leigh said...

It as a little iffy at first, but it was a beautiful day. Hopefully next Saturday will be just as nice.

Leigh said...

I don't think so, but we got off on when and where to pick up and the gal had other customers so there was only a brief conversation.

Frugal in Derbyshire said...

Honeysuckle looks pretty pristine to me (but then you know what my hives look like!)
I take it you will just put the brood box and roof up the tree as a swarm catcher?
Gill
PS Damsons blossom should be open by this weekend here, the weather forecast isn't too good though, so fingers crossed.

Kathy said...

May be totally wrong here (hope so), but I seem to remember reading yeeeaaaaarrrrs ago that bees could smell if anything else had been in the hive box. Riley's scent could potentially deter bees. Might be worth asking experienced beekeeper about before trying to re-establish colony.

Leigh said...

Something like that. :)

I just bought some sapling Damsons to plant. They look kinda spindly, however, so I hope they do well. Would love some jam!

Leigh said...

Kathy, that's definitely something to check into. I do have to say that for now, this box won't be used in the near future. It's a 5th just-in-case box that was never used. Once he tires of it I'll see about de-smelling it in the event I ever actually get to use it for bees.

Jason and Michelle said...

We have AC( Utah summers yuk) I hate using it. I planted two trees last year in the front and back of my house. ( faces east/west) I already have some trees out there. Now I just wait for them to grow.

DFW said...

Beautiful paint job on the hives. Hope all goes well next weekend. It will be a nice Easter gift.

Renee Nefe said...

That's a bummer about your delay. I would be bugging them for a copy of that missed email.
For some odd reason my youtube feed has been full of beekeeping videos. Interesting stuff...although the one was of someone who clearly had africanized bees and he didn't care...umm I heard they don't make honey.

Leigh said...

Utah sounds like one place it would be near impossible to live in unairconditioned. The trees should help quite a bit once they get big enough. I love our shade trees for that reason.

Leigh said...

Thanks! Yes, I just have to be patient.

Leigh said...

Tis the season for beekeeping! I didn't know that about africanized bees, I thought maybe they made more 'cuz they're more vigorous. That being said, I've had no interest in researching them 'cuz I have no plans to get any!

Renee Nefe said...

well it could also be that no one can get near enough to a hive to know if they produce honey. ;)

Katy said...

I was riding down I-26 in SC last week and passed a pickup truck full of cages of bees - first time i've seen a delivery like that, so of course I thought of you. Beekeeping has suddenly gotten more popular I think, I also saw some bee hives set up in neighborhoods I drive through.
Or maybe I'm just paying attention now? I am following along on this new venture of yours to see how much work it is and whether I should stick with buying honey at the grocery. ;)

Leigh said...

LOL. That could very well be true!

Leigh said...

Katy, I think you're right on both counts. I think more people are getting into beekeeping, and I think as we become more aware, we spot hives more easily. Do you have a source for honey from a local beekeeper? You would get the absolute best honey that way. One that still has the pollen in it to help with any allergies!

Unknown said...

Please may I suggest Skunk guards for around your hives. Here is a simple method. Notice the screen fence around the middle hives in the first picture that will pop up:

http://warre.biobees.com/croteau.htm

It is cheap insurance. I'd bet you even have the material around there somewhere. Just enough to keep the hive out of paws reach.

As for the cat in the box, I wouldn't worry about that as long as he doesn't smoke in there. Tobacco products are not good for man or bees.

RonC

Leigh said...

Hey Ron, that skunk guard is considerably simpler than the other one I found online! I have plenty of welded wire fencing around, which would be perfect.

BTW, that particular cat, Riley, seems to like bees. Last summer I'd find him sitting by the hive entrance, just watching the bees come and go. :)

Unknown said...

Sorry to hear your bees were delayed! We don't raise bees but a neighbor used to and we always had many in our garden.

Leigh said...

Thanks Kim. Nice that you have all the pollination going on in your garden! One of the reasons I got bees is because of poor pollination. They really make a difference.