Bees!

So I put my name on the "Needs Bees" list with Backwards Beekeepers and I already got two calls from people in the group. One call was to assist with a cut out of a 5 year old hive tomorrow morning (I guess I'll find out what that means tomorrow), and the other call was to see if I wanted a swarm that was all boxed up and ready to go.

I drove down to Redondo Beach on my lunch hour to pick up the box.

The bees were buzzing a little but seemed pretty calm. I don't know how many bees are in there but the box was fairly heavy.


The guy who have me the bees said to set on top of my hive boxes with hole facing down so that the bees would have to move through the hive box to exit. That way they could experience how cozy and perfect it would be for their new home. He said to do it at night so the bees would wake up calm in the morning and not be agitated when they discovered the hive box.

By the time I got home from work it was already getting dark so I got to work making the box more hospitable. I wrapped string around some of the frames to give the bees more places to grab on to in the hive so they wouldn't have to be on top of each other. This is something I saw Marc do on his flikr stream. I also brushed some honey around on the inside to encourage the bees to stay.


I put on my bees suit but the bees never left the box and barely stirred while I opened the hole in their box and set it on top of my hive box.

I even tucked my pants into my socks.


In the morning I ran up the hill to see what was going on. Not much. Like my house, the hive box is in the shade in the morning so it's cool.


I went up a couple hours later after it had warmed up a bit and there were a couple bees flying around.


There also seemed to be more activity in the cardboard box. You can see some of the bees clinging to the screen.


I guess it will take them awhile to figure out that the front door is at the bottom. I wish I could be there today to see what they do.