Last weekend was session three for my beekeeping training and I got to handle BEES!!!!!! I have attached a picture of me in my bee-suit so you know it really happened.
The first message that beekeepers related to us was the importance of safety. Anyone that did not have the appropriate clothing would not be allowed in the hive location. Each attendee was inspected to make sure that the protective clothing was being used correctly.
As you can see in the picture, I am in a full bee-suit with attached veil (the gloves are in my pocket). I am also wearing over the ankle hiking boots. The suit has elastic at the ankles that I can pull down over the tops of the boots. The reason for the precaution regarding ankles is because some bees are on the ground and will climb up and sting on the ankles.
I chose a standard bee-suit, there is a suit that is a more breathable fabric but it was more of an investment that I wanted to make at this time. The suit is confining and warm. It took a little time to get used to having the veil over my face, it messed with my vision a little. I think it has to do with depth perception and focusing passed the veil.
This session took place at a field up on a hill above a horse stable. In the field, there were over 100 hives. The class was broken up into groups of about 15 people each. Each group was assigned a color. After everyone was inspected, we all walked up a rather step hill to get to the field. It was already getting warm and there were lots of bee. I wasn’t able to take pictures because of the safety gloves. I felt very safe in my protective gear.
Hive clusters were marked with color coded flags. My group found our flag. The hives where on stands that held 4 boxes. There were 3 beekeepers assigned to my group. They started off talking about smokers and what the beekeepers preferred using as burning material. A combo of tightly packed pine needles with some burlap seemed to be what was working on this day. The smoke makes the bees go down into the hive and start eating. The beekeeper showed us how to inspect a hive.
Our hive was a new hive that was on day 10 after setting the queen. We were looking for new comb on the frames and that the queen was laying eggs. The beekeeper showed us how to safely remove the frames without crushing bees. I spotted the queen bee on one of the middle frames and was able to see larva in the uncapped cells so good things were happening in the hive right on schedule. It was so amazing to be physically handling frames covered in bees and seeing the growth of the hive.
I think the best piece of info I got this session was that if it is raining – don’t mess with your hive, if it is cloudy or windy – don’t mess with your hive. Why? Because if it is raining, cloudy or windy all the bees are in the hive including the ones that are normally out foraging and they are easily agitated.
Way too soon it was over, but what a memorable experience. I can’t wait until the next session. It will be at the hives again and learning more about maintaining the growth and health of the bees. So excited!!!