Don't eat bananas...

After getting our packages of bees installed successfully, most of us came back in a couple of days to find that the queen had, in fact, been released from her queen cage.  To make sure that we all had viable queens, the mentors scheduled an inspection to be done by a former TVBA president and certified inspector.

It was great to go hive by hive and watch as each owner stepped up and worked with the inspector to locate the queen or confirm that there were eggs in the comb.  Once that was confirmed, the frames were replaced and the hives were closed.

While looking for eggs near the center of the frames, the inspector would lightly blow on the bees and they'd move out of the way so the presence of eggs could be seen.  Someone commented:  "Did they move because of bad breath?" and the inspector said, "Don't eat a banana and go into a hive."  Everyone laughed.  Then he explained that the banana smells like the "attack pheromone" and you could end up provoking an attack.

That's one I'll remember!

Getting Started in the TVBA Mentor Program

This is my first foray into the beekeeping experience, so I was thrilled when I found the Tennessee Valley Beekeeping Association (TVBA).  My wife and I decided to attend the monthly meetings and were even more thrilled to find out that TVBA had a Mentor program that was about to start; so, we decided to dive in with both feet.

Our hives were all ordered through the mentor program and after receiving the wooden-ware and getting everything ready, the big day came... the arrival of our bees.  I'm not sure about everyone else, but we were a bit nervous about doing our own install but one of our mentors, Stewart, started out the install by taking everyone through two alternative methods, step-by-step.

The well known "spray-bonk-and-shake" method was explained as well as a newer, cutting-edge "no-shake" method; which seemed a much more humane way to welcome the bees to their new homes. 

Everyone at the "B" yard chose to use the "no-shake" method.  We used 3 medium frame boxes (as seen in the two middle hives above).  In the bottom, we placed 4 frames of foundation together on one side of the box.  Then we opened the package of bees, removed the sugar-syrup can, removed the queen cage and inserted the queen cage in the normal method between frames. 

We then sat the shipping container of bees in the bottom of the hive next to the 4 frames and opened the top of the container, allowing the bees to "escape" in their own time.  Next we added another medium box with 4 more frames directly above the first set, the inner cover the inside feeder, the third medium box, feeding shim, two quart jars of sugar-syrup and finally the telescoping cover.

Installing my bees took less than 10 minutes. The bees didn't seem agitated and it was almost a non-event!  

With everything going so well and mentors there to assist, if needed or to answer questions, it gave me the confidence to trust all the research and training that I'd received from our mentors.  If you want a great start with your bee-keeping experience, get involved with the TVBA Mentor program!

Chris