First activities and lots of theory

When we took over our colony on Sunday, the breeder told us, that after some time we had to insert an empty section, so the bees had the possibility to continue building.

We opened the bee hive from above and controlled. The girls have been quite busy and there was some wax on the outside of the wooden frame. We scrape that away. Now we don't know if they will reuse it again. So we put it near the bee hive. If they want to do so, they can.

By the way, the girls are really peaceful. Until now we haven't yet used the smoker or the
bee keeper uniform. The "guardian" is still at the entrance. We don't know yet if he is here for protection or guidance.

 Right now I continue to learn about the behavior of the bees. So I downloaded a book at
Audible Audiobooks from Jürgen Tautz, it is called " Der Bien: Superorganismus Honigbiene .
 aka "The bee; superorganism honey bee"
It is very interesting. Among many other things he narrates about the dance of the bees and its significance for other bees where to find their food. Then he talks about the sense of distance with bees. So monotonous distances like wheat fileds seem shorter to them than distances with changing vegetation. Water seems to be a non-distance to them. For proving this, scientists have gone as far as Australia in order to find a like without any people on it  - which in summer in Germany isn't possible.

Then there is abundant information on the internet. In the beginning, there are still some
words which have to bee known and understood:
What is the difference between pollen and nectar? Look here.
What is propolis?
What is the phenomenon of swarming and how does it happen?
I like to have a look at other blogs from bee keepers which have to teach a lot.
Have a look at Linda's blog, here she give's advice about swarms and what you need to know
This is a blog from England.
I like this blog from Philadelphia,  very lively with many pictures.

The bee colony in their new home

Yesterday the bees were brought in the evening to their new home. We think that we chose quite a good place vor them.
Under a tree, protected from wind and too much son, in direction south. The bees have room for their descent and landing. Water isn't too far, as it happens, they usually pass it when starting and landing.
Here we are starting with the set-up:

Since there are a couple of animals who might be interested in the yummy bee food, especially mice, we have put the bee hive a little bit higher. The entrance hole is set on small for the security of the bees. When watching it, we noted, that there often is one bee at the entrance which has a kind of guardian function. It seems like she also directs the traffic with her antennae for avoiding collisions.

Moving of the new colony

Today the nuclei have been given to us. Every colony is placed on 4 sections which are put in their new bee hive. 

With a hive tool, every section is separated from the transport box and put in the new bee hive after controlling for the presence of the queen bee.

Talk with the expert for more information.

 Traditional bee hive.

 Our colony

Lesson and demonstration: moving of the sections to the other bee hive.

The remaining bees. The container with the rest of the bees is knocked on strongly, so the bees leave their old home.

 Bee flight and arrival at the entrance.

Empty transport bee hive with health certificate, smoker and plastic foil.

The plastic wrap is placed between the breeding compartment and the food compartment. A hole has to be cut in it in order for the bees to arrive at their food.

This blog describes the work of a new bee keeper. We keep learning new things every day. This is why this blog isn't an expert but an experience blog - travel along with us!