It's Beginning to look like a lot like a Bee Yard......

Cozy area for the bees.......

So why an enclosed bee yard you ask?   Well after looking at a fellow bee keeper's "bee yard" who had two small kids and pets.....this was the obvious answer to me and my family.  I have two kids....ages 5 and 10 and a Labrador mix named Daisy.....  Granted they probably would stay away from the hives as well as the dog.....but I felt that this was a safer alternative and a little bit of peace of mind......especially if the kids had friends over playing in our backyard not to mention it would force the bees to fly vertical after leaving the hive.....Plus it looks really nice :)

This is why we needed an enclosed bee yard..........

We knew after we dropped off the bee hives with my bee supplier on April 12th....we only had 7-10 days to get all of the final prep work done around the yard.    This meant getting the enclosed bee yard completed.....no more procrastinating....it had to be done.....Then Mother Nature had other ideas......

Laying out the area for the bee yard

The bee yard starting to take shape

The clock was ticking and Mother Nature was not cooperating...... We had some nice weather and then a 180 degree turnaround......Easter which was the following weekend was a COLD MISERABLE & RAINY day here in Wilmington NC.....We had 5 inches of rain fall over the Easter weekend and temps barely getting out of the 50s......  I wondered if spring was ever going to stay around and I felt that Mother Nature was drunk and I think she needed to go home and sober up...

Installing the gate and as you can see.....despite the sunshine....it's still cold

We put down a layer of landscaping material and then mulch on top....

Waiting for the bees to arrive.......

Eventually the weather cooperated and the entire family pitched in to get the bee yard ready.  I was really proud of the work that we put into it.  Location, location, location is everything.  Luckily we have an area in the yard that backs up to the confluence of several drainage ditches so the bees are not located anywhere near our neighbors houses and within the bee yard I have plenty of room to work around the hives.  And down the road if the hives decide to go gang busters on me and I have to split them....then I would have plenty of room to add more hives......

Your Hive Tool is your Best Friend.......

Tools of the Trade........

Hive tool, bobby pins and a Heavy Duty Stapler

While waiting for my 2 Nucs from my local bee supplier.....I spent most of April doing the prep work......This meant spending my extra time putting together my hives, frames and everything else that went along with bee keeping.......Me and the hubby took advantage of some rainy weekend afternoons to put together my deeps, mediums, frames and installing wax foundation in the frames.....

Luckily.....my hubby is in the construction business.....so I had access to a variety of tools such as a nail gun and a stapler.....but I found that the hive tool was my best friend.....it was perfect for popping the wedge top off the frames, scraping extra wood stuck from the wedge.....it was great for hammering the bobby pins into the sides to support the wax foundation.....and of course it's what you need to be inside of a bee hive.....

Medium Frames waiting to be put together

Hive tool popping out the wedge

Finished  frame with wax foundation

At first we were going to make the deeps and medium boxes but when we got to looking at lumber prices....sadly.....it was cheaper to buy the boxes in cypress from a bee supplier than to make them ourselves out of cheap whiteboard (pine).  I wasn't planning on that but it was the case for us. So we ended up buying our hive bodies, medium boxes and medium frames from a  bee supply company out of Georgia....Rossman Aparies.....

So.....after ordering all of the stuff I needed........This is what my living room looked like after I got three boxes from Rossman......plus all of the other supplies that I had picked up from the State Bee Convention.....goodbye tax return checks....yep I said "check(s)".  This is not a cheap hobby to get into and it's why more retirees are involved than working full time folks with younger kids like me... I kinda knew that but with all hobbies....there is some kind of start up cost and hopefully we will get a decent return on beekeeping.....well....at least a sweet return :)

However.....my youngest was more than happy to play in the empty boxes when we got everything together.....

Cardboard boxes make the best lounging areas

My bee boxes put together before we painted them

NC State Bee Convention and Bee School Field Day....

March....busy busy as a bee....preparing for the season.

March came and went very quickly....so quickly that I failed to keep up with the blog......

March was a blur.....I mean a complete BLUR!   Between the NC State Bee Convention which was held the first weekend in March and then some other issues like work and life.....and eventually the bee school field day ....March seemed to go by away too quick.

The NC State Bee Convention was held in Wilmington NC and was hosted by the New Hanover Beekeeper's Association.  It was a lot of fun to help volunteer at.  Attending the State Convention also allowed me to scope out the various bee vendors and pick up my supplies.  I didn't get a chance to attend any of the workshops but it was a good experience nonetheless.

All of our goodies from the convention

Every bee keeper should have one :)

Future bee keeper.....Can you tell she was happy to "bee" at the convention?

Beekeepers Association spreads buzz with Bee Buddies program for kids | WWAY NewsChannel 3 | Wilmington NC News

Beekeepers Association spreads buzz with Bee Buddies program for kids | WWAY NewsChannel 3 | Wilmington NC New

Yesterday as a way to promote the upcoming NC State Bee Keeper's Association Convention and the Bee Buddies program - my daughter Caroline held a frame of nurse bees with the help of a local New Hanover County BeeKeeper Association member - mind you she did this with no equipment.  A drone bee actually hatched when they were looking at the frame and that helped her get her mind off the fact bees were flying around her.   Later on - we geared up and got a explore the host bee keeper's bee yard.  Thanks for a wonderful time!

Caroline and NHCBKA member Brian West 

Looking at the Drone Bee hatching on the frame

Caroline still a little cautious....but still intriqued

My future beekeeper - all suited up and ready to explore a bee yard

Caroline watching the bees

Brief Reprieve of Winter

Old man Winter please go Away!!!!

This has been a crazy winter here in coastal North Carolina. ...two ice storms back to back and with the possibility more winter weather next week, so the warmer temps this week was a godsend!.   Yesterday we had awesome warm weather....almost record breaking. ..which made it a perfect day to explore a bee yard. A BIG THANK YOU to local New Hanover County BeeKeeper Association members Nicole, Brian and David for an awesome experience!

With the upcoming NC State Beekeeper's Association convention here in Wilmington NC on March 6-8th 2014,  and with the New Hanover County Bee Keepers Association as the host group...some of the local bee keepers wanted to bring some media coverage to the Bee Buddies program which will be presented to local 4th and 5th graders at the State Convention, so my oldest daughter Caroline held a frame of nurse bees without any equipment on with a little help.....that's will be another posting....

Caroline "holding" the frame of bees with a little help :)

The frame of brood and nurse bees

Despite the bees buzzing around - the experience was thrilling and relaxing at the same time.  The bees were curious at what we were doing in their house and they were so beautiful too.   I hope the photos below show just an inkling how regal these amazing creatures are.   Plus I got a little field experience too....I was able to identify a drone bee and the workers were pretty easy but we weren't able to find the queen - she was hiding somewhere.

Nosy little things aren't they?

What really surprised me was how heavy just 1 frame of bees, pollen, honey and brood can be and not to mention a 10 frame hive box which can weigh 50 lbs....ooomph!  Not good if one has a bad back like me.  So......After exploring these hives yesterday and seeing how heavy they can be--- it influenced me tremendously to lean towards the 8 frame hive boxes instead just because they would weigh less.

By exploring a mentor's/local bee keepers "bee yard" - it gave me ideas on how to create my own "bee yard."  Our host has a backyard similar to mine and she also has kids.  Kids, pets and bees - do they mix?  Yes they do in this case.  I was curious how she had her "bee yard" in proximity to her children's play areas, (ie., swingsets, or sandboxes) and the rule was when someone was in the "bee yard" the kids had to stay on the porch or suit up.  So in the back of my mind I was thinking - this is going to work out after all -- fingers crossed.   Hopefully winter will be going away soon - not only so we can start working on creating our bee yard but also so we can get our 2 Nucs in April! - 

The bees enjoying the warmer temps

Our gracious host explaining a few things to us

The bees checking us out 

What a wonderful sight....

Lots and Lots of Pollen

And so it Begins.......

2014 - Brings new things....and so it begins....my journey of being a beekeeper in the 'burbs.....being a beekeeper and a mommy......and eventually introducing beekeeping to my oldest daughter.....

So how did I get here?

My oldest sister got the book "Homegrown Honey Bees" for Christmas and posted it to Facebook - so I had to pick it up a copy too.....because if my sister wanted to do it....I thought that sure I can do it too...

Actually - I was interested in bees way before my big sister decided to post that book about bees on her Facebook page - a few years ago I wanted to do it but a friend of mine suggested that I take a class and also link up with a mentor if I wanted to be a successful beekeeper......but as I got busy with life --- you know working full time, dealing with two kids and everything that goes along with it.....and it faded to the background but now with this renewed interest I decided to look at how, where and what I needed to do......

I recommend looking up your state or local beekeepers association.  I looked up the North Carolina State Beekeepers Association http://www.ncbeekeepers.org/ and found out that here in New Hanover County there was a class - the local beekeeping association teaches a beginner class.....and luckily I was able to snag a slot in the class....it was a 6 week course including a field day to a "bee yard"....I didn't know what to expect.....but I was excited....

The first day of class - I was surprised that there was so many people - almost 50 people were in the class - the largest class that they ever taught -- some were younger like me and most were older retirees....and I felt like I was back in college learning all about the biology of a honey bee.....and I thought what did I get myself into.....but as the classes progressed.....it got easier and a little overwhelming too - especially the class about all of the things that can go wrong or that can affect the hive - including our recent cold snap that killed some local hives - one of the Bee Masters brought in a few frames of a "cluster" that had froze to death during our ice storm.....it was really sad.....

Bee Keeping Equipment class

Looks overwhelming doesn't it?  This is all of the things that can affect a hive!

Queen Bee (top)
Worker Bee (bottom)
These poor bees froze to death during the ice storm in January 2014

Example of bees who froze during the ice storm - notice the ones with their "bums" sticking out of the cells and also the capped brood.
We found the queen bee - shown above within this cluster.





So next week.....I take my written test and hopefully we will have our practical field day soon - if the weather cooperates.  Will keep you posted!