The whole concept of ‘God laughs when you make plans’ is a REAL thing with beekeeping. Yesterday should have been a quiet day checking in on a few of last month’s swarms: giving them more space, making sure they are queen-right, and generally doing apiary maintenance (you might be surprised at how much time I spend pulling weeds that grow up in front of hive entrances!)Of course, one of the first things I noticed on carrying equipment out to the beez was this big swarm-how polite were these ladiez, SO low to the ground! One of the easiest swarms I’ve ever captured. A quick shake into a box, and then a ‘quiet’ beekeeping afternoon turned into a ‘normal’ one 😅
This apiary is on a hillside, so to install a new hive I need:
- One flat-edge shovel (for leveling the ground)
- 16 bricks (to act as a foundation)
- five assorted pieces of hive equipment
- some honey or sugar cake to keep the swarm put.
All of this 50′ up an incline, bees installed, AND I got my cardio in for the day. That’s a good afternoon in the apiary life.
