Watch this video on YouTube


We still need some work on making a good movie and this is a little long, but you can see the bees as I separate the boxes.

For those of you that have honeybees or are interested, all four of my colonies appear to have survived the winter. Also, a few observations from my video:

1. With our mild winter here in the Midwest, the bees seem to be 3-6 weeks ahead of schedule. I am guessing the swarms will start within 10-14 days (I plan to go out swarm catching and post some of those videos - debating whether I am going to stick my bare hand into a swarm of bees...we shall see.

2. Speaking of hands, I don't wear gloves when I work the bees (I do wear latex gloves, mostly to stay unsticky, but they aren't sting proof). I am still a bit clumsy - when we were working on the other hive (we had four), I accidentally pushed a little too hard on a bee, and she let me know her disagreement. Pop on the end of my pointer finger...

3. Close calls to stings, we were transferring from one box to another, and it was a little cool, so a bunch of bees jumped on me. I had a few walk into the hole in my pants knee...that unnerving feeling when you feel a stinging insect walking up the inside of your thigh. Yes, I get nervous - I did a little dance, and fortunately, I didn't get stung on any soft tissue...

4. We found a few queen cups. I wish it wasn't bad weather yesterday (the video was made on 3/18) - I am worried I might have some queen cells. If somehow I can be fortunate enough and my colony doesn't swarm, it wouldn't surprise me if we got 150 pounds of honey from the two colony's that are cranking on the brood right now. Last year I didn't put on honey boxes until May. This year, they were on March 18th. Wow.

5. I sold my first nuc of the season this week.. A little swarm that could fit in my hand. I thought it would never make it, but the lady begged me to please take it and give it a try. She offered me a bottle of wine, but when she found out I don't drink, she offered a $50 donation. (I never turn down money from a stranger...). Anyway, we nursed it through the fall, got it to about four frames, fed it sugar mush over the winter, and it made it. When we opened it, it was pushing maximum density in the nuc box, so we sold it. ($175, which is a little on the low side for our area).

I really enjoy beekeeping.