What's all the buzzzz about?

 

Ya like that cheesy title?  Me too.  As you can see, we've acquired bees on the farm!  It started with a hive delivery at midnight from Brent the Bee Man.  We laid down a couple of pallets to make a steady ground and keep the grass from growing up too high.  Then Brent unloaded the bees from his car.  Yup...he drove two plus hours with around 15,000 bees in the back of his moving vehicle!  He had boards screwed in place so that they couldn't come out, but still, the idea of 15,000 bees in my car would keep me white knuckled and sweaty.

Once everything was in place we shuffled off to bed.  Bee deliveries happen at night because all those little buzzheads are back to their honey home after work.  

The next morning we suited up to go unscrew the last board which covered the opening of the hive.  I thought Ross resembled an astronaut:)  I was not able to watch the entire inspection of the hive, but Ross said that by the end of it, bees were already coming back with pollen on their legs!  What magic little creatures!

Ross is going to be the main beekeeper and I'm going to help and learn as much as I can.  This all came about when I worked at a bakery in Minneapolis.  I met Brent and his wife Danielle as they were regulars at the bakery.  When we were going to move to the farm, we began talking bees.  Brent is starting some pretty incredible stuff, involving a bus and educational programs for kids to learn about bees (I will let you know more about that as it happens!).  All in all, Brent is giving a hive to the farm and we will take care of it and at the end...we'll all split the honey!

This method seems to work the best for Ross and I.  We definitely want to have a farm of our own someday, but we're enjoying the ability to get our hands dirty and learn without the initial huge investment.  This way we're also growing our community...which just grew by 15,000.  Welcome bees!