My little helper Cole. He smokes the bees while I work.
The first year bounty from my most amazing and diligent little bees.
Okay, in fairness to the She-Wolf, it's true that I rarely read directions for anything. Furthermore, beekeeping is very technical and requires detailed research and massive amounts of reading to be successful. So the likelihood that I would successfully harvest anything other than a bunch of bee stings was pretty remote. I'm sure she felt secure in her prediction that this would be a waste of time and money; and although her assumptions were based entirely upon a foundation of solid facts and historical precedents, in the end she was oh so wrong. I harvested 36, 4 oz. bottles of beautiful, sweet honey.
I would like to believe that I possess natural instincts to be a beekeeper. In the end I think the only 4 videos on YouTube that I actually watched must have really mattered. Either that or my bees are simply world class. My guess? The later. Honestly, I felt a special connection with my bees. As I worked my perennial flower beds throughout this past Spring and Summer, I marveled as my bees would diligently go from one major bloom to the next. Every time a new set of blooms came on, there were my bees, organized and happily working. It seemed magical to me. To the casual observer it's obvious what bees do, but when you are responsible for them, you take particular notice of the little things--things so complex and inexplicable that you stand in awe at the power and mystery of nature.
It's not always the case that a first year beekeeper will get to harvest honey, but because I had a completely full second super. (A super is a box stacked on the hive where the bees can store excess honey for the winter.), I felt confident that I could harvest from the top super. I left them a complete box of honey and am hopeful this will get them through the winter.
When I predicted to the She-Wolf that by the end of the summer my hive would likely be home to 20,000+ bees she threatened me, "None of my grandchildren better get stung, or you'll be answering to me!" (I took this threat seriously because of its tone, but also due to the fact that it involved the She-Wolf's grandchildren.) In the end, the only one who got stung was Sheila. Somehow I just think my amazing little bees know who loves them and who doesn't.
2 comments:
I am pretty amazed you were able to get that much Honey! You definitely look like you know what your doing, the bee keeping suits are pretty awesome. Beetle really wants to do this, but I like Sheila am nervous about my kids,so I was glad to hear that none of your Grandkids were stung.
Nothing better than silencing the Haters, especially when one is your wife. How dare the She-wolf doubt you?
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