The first thing she did was start cutting comb from the hive, which was more well-formed (and had therefore been there longer) than we thought. She placed the combs into the bee box my boss owns and began moving the hive over. She allowed me to have a small piece of honeycomb, which I took inside. It was, hands down, the best honey I've ever had in my life. And since it came from the plants and flowers in my garden, it meant far more to me than any store-bought honey could.
As you can see (above), they were well ensconced in the base of the water fountain. They certainly made a pretty hive, didn't they? It was a shame we had to cut it up and move it. But obviously this was not a good long term place for them, for many reasons, the biggest of which is that they had no protection from ants, being so close to the ground. Silly bees.
Eventually she moved a lot of the comb over but was unable to get the queen without more specialized equipment. So we decided to leave it as is and wait until tomorrow.
Then last night at sunset, all the bees flew off, back to their original hive (the one this offshoot hive came from), someplace west of here. I stood next to the bee box as one by one, they all took off to the west and did not come back. I was crushed.
But this morning they returned! I guess overnight sleepovers at other hives are permitted. And now I'm just waiting for the Bee Lady to arrive again and get our queen moved over. I still have no idea if this will be a successful move or not, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
And yes, as you can probably guess, I am now hooked on bees. Look for bees to find a permanent place on our property as soon as it can reasonably be done!
They are fascinating little creatures. Who could have imagined they would be so threatened? I bought some honey from a blogger in Indiana who had her own bees. Oh my gosh, it was the best I've ever had. I actually tucked one jar away because I fear I'll never have such good honey again.
ReplyDeleteIt really is amazing. I've had local honey from around here, and it was not this good. Not sure why that is, but you're right, when beekeepers make it themselves, it's superior to anything on the market!
DeleteHow exciting! I so love bees and eagerly await keeping hives. Of course with your allergy it's different and your fear is very valid. But I find it sad when people not allergic vilify honeybees not realizing how docile they are. My flowers are always heavily visited by honeybees and I've never been stung. They will even let me deadhead without stinging. Hope the queen is located! Late fall honey is always best. Here it becomes a dark amber color from goldenrod and aster pollen. Actually I keep buying it because it's one of the few things still plentiful at the market. If you'd like some spectacular Ohio honey, I'd be happy to send you some! My favorite is from my friend Pam who minimally filters it. So good!
ReplyDeleteYou are right; this dark amber honey is the BEST ever! My neighbor who is a winemaker says our honey tastes like the bees were out in the vineyard a lot. But of course we only got a comb of it, so not as much as I'd like. So yes, I would ADORE some honey and will be happy to pay you for it, since shipping anything these days is expensive. I'll shoot you an email at your blog email. : )
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