The Bees have a new home. A photo story.
Hopefully, my honey bees will eventually help to pollinate the flowers in my backyard.
- The African American Beekeeper in an “Ultra Breeze Bee Suit.” This bee suit kept me safe and confident while working the bees. Absolutely, no stings!!!
Here, I began smoking the area to calm the bees.
Here, I removed the nuc box from the hive bottom board and replaced it with the actual brood box. Some of the guard bees were zooming around and became a little defensive, so I grabbed my smoker and puff puffed some smoke.
Here, I am using my hive tool to pry each frame from the nuc box. Things can get sticky because the bees use propolis to glue and seal things up.
It appears to be a very healthy colony. All frames have combs full of capped brood. See the smoker? This is not a good place to put it. Make sure you keep it in front of you at all times. I burned a hole in the leg of my new bee suit. Luckily, no bees found their way in.
Here, I am placing frames in the new hive body carefully without crushing any bees.
There were still a lot of bees left in the nuc box. I was not really sure what to do. I figured I would attempt to dump and shake the rest of the bees into the new hive and then just place the nuc next to it and allow any remaining bees to find their way over on their own.
Here, I am attempting to dump and shake the remaining bees from the nuc box in to the hive.
Here, I am placing the roof on top of the hive. However, I forgot about the inner cover. So, I added it later.
All except a few bees were in the hive. I left the nuc box beside it to allow the remaining bees to march over on their own. And, they did!
Finally, I added the feeder with some sugar water supplement. Hopefully, the bees are happy. Only time will tell.
African American Beekeeper 
I love your PHOTO Story…it was very entertaining, informative and provided for a shared experience, eg vicariously allowed me to be there as you were transitioning your bees. WOW I am looking forward to more photo stories like this one!!! WELL DONE and keep us informed.
Hello! Thanks for your post to my blog. It’s great to see your photos working with the bees. It reminds me of my first hive. I’ve been beekeeping since 2006 and now my husband and I have six hives in our backyard. They sit about 50 feet from our back porch and have never bothered us. Well, I won’t say never. After we rob them of their honey they can be a bit persnickety and might knock against our heads to show their disapproval, but that typically lasts for a week and then they go back to their business. You look and sound like you know what you’re doing! Having a good bee suit is important, although Ryan and I have gotten to the point where we can work without gloves or veils for the most part, unless we’re robbing, then we gear up fully. I wouldn’t worry about your son either. We have an 18 month old and she just knows not to go within about 15 feet of the front of the hive. We know she’ll get stung eventually, but I know these bees will never “attack” unless they become Africanized HBs, and even then we’ll see signs before it becomes out of control.
My only advice — read, read, read and read some more. We have great books and have learned all we know from them — Organic Beekeeping, A book of bees (Sue Hubbell), Letters from the Hive, Sweetness and Light, and I just started reading this great book called Honeybee Democracy by Dr. Robert Seely. Fascinating!
I’m going to subscribe to your blog to hear more. I haven’t updated recently but will be soon! My husband just split a hive into two “nucs” and we’ll be checking them soon to see if they raised their new queen. Right now we’re working to keep our others from swarming, which they love to do this time of year. Good luck and drop a line anytime!
Are you in the South?
i too just got some bees. I am Belizean America and while I work in a D.C. office my alter-life is on my farm in southern virginia. Am interested in any advice you have to give. It was hot when i situated my nuc in my new hive, and I am hopeful that I can prepare my bees for the winter.
Thanks for visiting my blog. It has been a rough start for me. The Small Hive Beetle (SHB) just would not give my hives a break. I have two hives or shall I say “one” right now. The first hive I started from a nuc and it is doing okay today– they are thriving. However, my second hive (started from 3lbs package bees and a queen) was succumbed to the SHB. They just could never get the momentum to build combs because the pesky beetles were forever at there door step. I did everything to help the bees keep them at bay but failed. I think part of my issue is that I placed both my hives in dapple shade and the beetles love it. So, next year, I am moving my hives to FULL sun. Another problem I may have caused is not continuously feeding them. I think when I stopped feeding them 1:1 sugar water syrup, I may have starved them and the SHB moved in and began eating honey, eggs, bee larvae and all. I only stopped for 4 days feeding because the hive was so big and thriving that I figured they had enough bees to take care of everything. Some things I used to try and get rid of the SHB was the “Fat Bee Man” campaign sign technique using boric acid and shortening. You can google and see his technique. I think it helped at least one of my hives. The beetle jails I purchased didn’t really work for me. You can never really get rid of the SHB so the best thing to do is keep the hive as strong as possible because weak hives just won’t make it. Keep in touch, good luck and happy beekeeping!
We are moving a hive from my home (for sale) to our farm. This is our first attempt and hope it goes well. We got the full start up kit and beekeeping for dummies…hope that helps we are studying it front to back. I enjoyed your pictures and wonder if you can tell me of any reading we can get to help in all beekeeping. I know it is trial and error, but we are ready!
Thanks for the comments. Beekeeping for dummies is a good book. There is also a book called “The Beekeeper’s Bible.” This book goes into bees and beekeeping history, understanding the honeybee, recipes and more. I will say that much of the information I received about beekeeping either came from internet searches or talking with other beekeepers in my area and at beekeeping meetings. I am sure they will do well on your farm.