Bzzzzzz

This has been an interesting week for us when it comes to bees...
First, one of our two hives of bees died over the winter so Bruce had moved the bee boxes up by the shed so he could clean them out and get them ready for a new set of bees when they all started 'swarming'. (A swarm is when a hive gets too big and they break in half. Half of the bees stay at the old hive and half 'swarm' and gather on a branch or somewhere until they can find a new home. Once they find a new place to live they leave the branch or wherever they are clustered and move in.) Well, they usually tend to swarm during the spring - about now. So anyway, this hive box - the short one in this picture - is sitting by the shed, empty, except for some dead bees and some rows of honeycomb that the old bees had made.... then Sunday night, POOF! it had bees! This is a hardworking little group of bees too. If you look at the picture really close you can see a brown sort of mess in front of the blue boxes... that is all the dead bees that the new bees have cleaned out of their little 'hud house' they found. Apparently they wanted the house but those stinky old tenants just had to go!

Second, is that Shy has decided that there is a little money to be made in tending some bee's and selling the honey to people that want to buy local honey. (They say that if you eat honey that is found locally it will help your allergies) She is also planning on qualifying for a beekeeping scholarship that will pay for 4 years of college. Anyway, with it being spring and all, its time to get her hive ready to be filled by the next available swarm that we find. I seriously doubt it will be as easy to fill her hive as it was to fill the one on Sunday, but we have already had 2 phone calls today about people wanting Bruce to come get their bees.

So, here are a couple pictures of Shyla, putting together her own bee hive and taking her first baby steps to being a true entrepreneur! She is really excited and says she wants to save up any money she makes to buy her own car.... I am really proud of her!

Oh, and last but not least, a few minutes ago, we found a swarm for Shy's hive... some apartment complex called and wants to pay Bruce to come out and take the bee hive off their property and get rid of the bees - honey, hive, and everything! We just so happen to have a new home for them :)