I love my bees

 My beekeepering friends probably get tired of me talking about how calm my bees are….but it’s true.

When we retired and moved back home in 2019, I ordered new bees from BeeMaid in Alberta, three packages.  In the past I had mostly gotten nucs but since I had lots of drawn out comb and had some nasty experiences with some nuc suppliers, I decided to order packages from New Zealand. When they arrived, they were beautiful healthy bees, with nice temperaments. I was very happy with them.

Here it is Sept 2022 and I still have those three original hives plus a split I did from one of them last year.  I love these bees. They are calm and relaxed. And even the bee inspector commented how calm they were.

 I decided two years ago to start going into the hives with only wearing nitrile gloves. I wanted to be able to feel the frames better and they are way less bulky. It won’t stop a bee sting but that’s ok. This year I decided to go gloveless all together. What a difference not wearing anything on your hands. It forces you to slow down and to take note where your fingers are. There is something really neat about the feeling of a bee crawling on your hands and arms. Nothing else feels like that.

Today I went into my big hive to start pulling honey. This is my overachiever hive. It’s motto I am pretty sure is….go big or go home. Not only was there lots of honey, there was lots of bees. As I removed each frame, my hands and forearms were speckled with these little vibrating insects. There is something very calming about that. (Or frightening in some peoples eyes). 

Anyways….I don’t really know why they are like this….but I am glad they are.

Til next time….cheers🐝❤️