BlueRidgeBee

Coming in for a landing!! I have continued to notice the aggressive bees bunching up on the outside of the hive trying to get in to deposit their pollen and nectar.  Everything that the bees collect they collect for their own consumption. We actually steal from them.  The pollen is their protein source and the nectar, which they turn into honey is their carbohydrate source. They need lots of carbs since they must visit about 2 million flowers to produce 1 pound of honey.

Hives are building up on this beautiful Spring Sunday! From day one when I installed my packages I noticed that the two packages had very different personalities. One package was very docile and lethargic, while the other was very aggressive. I have noticed that the aggressive hive was producing more brood that the more docile one. The aggressive hive also stung me once for no reason, I was just standing near them. What I have learned is that bees take on the personality of their queen. 

Successful Package Installations Two new packages installed for the 2019 season. Hope these girls do well. I am new to bee keeping and was planning on starting with just one hive, but was encouraged by veterans of bee keeping to have two so that I can compare. I started by reading some books on bee keeping like "Storey's Guide to Keeping Honey Bees" and "First Lessons in Beekeeping". I then signed up for a bee keeping class at a local bee supply store near my home, "The Carolina Bee Co.". This class gave me valuable information and connected me to other bee enthusiast, as well as giving me a discount on my bee packages. Speaking of bee packages there are two ways to get bees. Either a package   that comes in a box shown below with bees, a can with sugar water for them to eat on the way and a queen in her little box inside the big one. The queen bx contains some workers to aid her her and a cork with a candy stopper at one end. To introduce th...

Ready For Spring We are getting ready for the spring and looking forward to a great honey flow in 2019. I am new to beekeeping and will be blogging my experiences first hand here. I do not claim to have any great knowledge of beekeeping but am on a journey to learn. Come follow along as I learn and I hope can encourage others to learn as well. Beekeeping is a fascinating hobby and I look forward to what lays ahead.  Come back often