Bees For B

For those of you who may not know, Brandon's nickname is "B". Thus, the title Bees For B. This nickname goes all the way back to when he could barely talk. Someone would ask Brandon what his name is and he would reply "B-man". It stuck.

Anyway, Bran has been wanting to start his own bee hive for about a year now. We have dear friends that have several hives and graciously agreed to teach Brandon about beekeeping. We had to wait till the spring to start because the bees have plenty of pollen and nectar to keep the hive healthy in the spring and summer. Brandon was patient but regularly mentioned the bees during the fall and winter months.

Finally, the long awaited day arrived. Ethan, our beekeeping friend and teacher, delivered the bees and taught Brandon all about the hive. I watched from a SAFE distance!!

Ethan taught us so much about beekeeping. He has a passion for bees and it shows! We are so very thankful for Ethan and his willingness to help our family! What a science lesson we had that day for school. I don't think we could have ever learned that much from a science textbook!! Yes, we all got our science lesson that day. Before Ethan left, he made sure Brandon knew how to check his hive for pests and to check on the progress of the honey. He also has to monitor the hive for over-crowding which would lead to a swarm....yikes!

Well, today was the day Brandon had to check on the bees by himself. Once again, I watched from a SAFE distance. As I was watching, I began to think about just what I would do if he ran into trouble. I don't think I would be much help. I would probably just scream and tell him to "RUN!!" as I would head for the back door.

Thankfully, we had no problems. In fact, I was very proud of my son. He just went right out to that hive and worked like a pro. Here are some pictures.

First Brandon must smoke the hive to calm the bees so he can take a closer look.

Here he is inspecting the frame for hive beetles, one of the pests a beekeeper must keep a close eye on or they can destroy a hive.

Next he takes the super (top box where the honey is stored) off of the hive and smokes the lower section of the hive before removing another frame.

Once again he removes the frames and takes a look at the bees and looks for any signs of beetles or ants. He also must make sure the comb that the bees are making is smooth and even so that the frame can be lifted out easily.

Wow our bee population has certainly grown in the last 2 weeks!! EEEETTTTHHHAAANNN!!!

Yes, we will be calling our faithful friend, Ethan!

We are looking forward to some wonderful orange blossom honey! Yummy! I have to ration it with my boys. They love it so much! I'll let you know if we are successful this season.