He had mentioned to me previously about getting bees, but it was something that never seemed to happen. Then all of a sudden it was back on the agenda after hearing that a couple of his work mates had hives.
So for the past couple of weeks he has been gathering bits and pieces together to start bee keeping.
First on the list was a bee suit. The most important part, if you don't want to get stung.
The old dog bed frame and a couple of old pallets came in handy for making a stand for the hives to sit on.
Another mate had a spare one of these and gifted it to Phil.
Next up was the bee hive or boxes. He ordered them and they were delivered by post.
Frames put together.
Here Phil is adding the bee frame wire. He borrowed his mates "gadget" to do this.
Assembly complete.
Then he decided to make another bottom just like the purchased one, so he could divide the hive into two.
Last Sunday morning I went with hubby over to his mates place as he was doing a hive check and wanted to show Phil how he does it.
I kept a safe distance away.
Happy to report that there were no stings.
Then in the afternoon we hopped in the car and headed towards Angaston, about a three hour drive from home.
We arrived at about 4.30pm, found the motel we were staying at for the night and then went for a drive around. We had not visited this area before, and I was amazed at the greenery and the roses! Oh my, the roses were all out in bloom everywhere. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of them. I try to grow roses but they struggle in my front garden, so I may look at relocating them next year, even if I put them in large pots so I can take better care of them.
A bit later we went out to find something to eat for tea then looked around some more. We found this lookout and the views from the top were breath taking, quite different from the scenery I am use to. These photos aren't great as I had left my camera in the motel room, so just taken on my mobile phone. Plus it was just on sundown.
First thing Monday morning, we set out for Jembella farm, a couple of minutes down the road. I am sure a lot of you will recognise this place. Sally has a blog and she also has bees, and we were here to collect two nuc colonies to bring home.
After a coffee, chat and quick tour we loaded our bees and were on our way. I really love how Sally and Brian have set up their place. I came home with fresh ideas and much needed enthusiasm.
And we also came away with some delicious honey!
Another three hour drive and we were home. The bees survived the trip and were quite eager to get out of their boxes. Lucky they didn't escape on our way home, because as the following picture shows, they were working on it haha!
Here they are placed ready to be put into our hives. Phil was a bit nervous so he made a phone call to his "bee" mate to come over to help.
And the job is done, with no stings thank goodness!
The bees have settled in and are busy doing their thing. We are a bit concerned about pollen and nectar sources so are looking at ways to increase what we have here. We have purchased a couple of suitable gum trees and will be incorporating more flowers via herbs etc to cater to their needs. I decided that the back lawn will go to get this happening. While the lawn does provide some greenery, it is useless and takes water to keep it green. I have leftover raised beds that can be used and made into wicking beds, so once the weather cools down, I will get started.
On Tuesday a contractor was going along our road spraying weeds with glysophate (man I hate that stuff). Hubby had a fit when he saw him from the train and promptly rang the council, they in turn rang the contractor to tell him to stay away from our block. The girl at the council was very understanding as to why we didn't want the poison near here. She said, we need bees ~ smiles.
I think it is time to get a no spray sign made up.
And to finish with a little clip of our bees drinking from the bird bath out the front. I gave it a good clean and placed fresh water in the bowl. I have increased the water sources all around the block so the bees can get a drink when needed. It is so good to hear the buzz of bees everywhere I go now.
Today was a horrid day. Hot, windy and dirty just like real drought weather. Phil went over to check on his bees and received his first bee sting! He got too close and I think they were cranky with the weather haha! At least he found out that he is not allergic!
Late in the day the cool change arrived and we had one shower of rain, but nothing since. It wasn't even enough to register in the rain gauge. Hopefully we get a bit more overnight or tomorrow, as it is so dry.
See you soon,
xTania
I enjoyed bees when I had them, but that was years ago.
ReplyDeleteBees are fun, we are loving having them around.
DeleteHow wonderful to have bees at your place now, Tania. I think bees are fascinating! Bees need all the help they can get too so keeping bees in our backyards, growing food sources in our gardens for them and keeping toxic poisons away are all so important. I can't stand to see Glysophate sprayed anywhere either; makes my blood boil too. I like the idea of a No Spray sign and think I will make one for our place too. Happy beekeeping! Meg:)
ReplyDeleteI think a sign out the front should work just in case we aren't around when the weed sprayer goes past.
DeleteKeeping bees should be something that more people do if they are able. They are so good for many things including pollination, and I cant wait to see the benefits they bring.
xTania
OH, I so hope the bees do well. It looks like they have fine accommodations! Chemical spraying by our country road department is one of my biggest gripes. Every spring they begin to spray just about the time the red clover is starting to bloom. I can't even imagine how many of our little wild critters, including bees, are affected by that nasty practice.
ReplyDeleteAnd this is why the bees and other critters all over the world are under threat. The powers that be need to realise the damage they are doing. No bees, no me.
DeleteHow exciting getting hive and bees....I would be scared of all those bees. It's great your husband has friends to help him out so he can get more confident. Can't wait to see your jars of honey.
ReplyDeleteIt is exciting Kathy. I thought I would be scared too, but they are quite calm little creatures and if you stay calm, all is good. They only sting when under threat, just like snakes bite when threatened. I am quite happy to live with them both :)
DeleteI don't know if you're getting it up there but it poured all night in Adelaide and just started
ReplyDeleteagain. Hopefully you'll have some - we have and we're normally in some kind of weird rain shadow
where we live!
We had 9mm overnight Barbara. Not a great deal, but better than nothing. After the shocking dust and wind yesterday, it was so good to hear the rain falling.
DeleteLucky you living in a rain shadow, we miss out most times. We watch it go on past us and head down your way.
How nice!
ReplyDeleteI recently read a post by Pauline at Happy Retirees Kitchen about how they extracted honey from theirs bees for the first time.
I will have to take a look at Pauline's post. Thank you Nil xxx
DeleteHow exciting to catch up with Sally. I am sure you will love keeping bees even though it is so dry. I try to keep some flowers alive for the bees as the drought is dire up here in Queensland.
ReplyDeleteIt was great to finally meet Sally. And she is just lovely, and so very helpful with advice.
DeleteDry here too most times Nanna Chel, so I plan on planting more plants for the bees :)
Our council has a 'spray register" and we are on it. It means they must notify us if they want to spray within 200 m of our house. I am impressed with all those who keep bees, and like you we have no lawn.
ReplyDeleteThat is a great tip, I will ring our council and see if they offer the same option. At the moment we still have too small areas of lawn, although one is not doing well, but we are going to replace them with plants for the bees instead xxx
DeleteWhat a wonderful treat, to meet Sally at Jembella Farm, and see their place. I think I'd come home with a bunch of ideas too. I really hope the bees become permanent residents. It's so hard for them, with a less stable climate and food supply. I think Ironbark makes the best honey though! Between yellowbox and ironbark, the latter is my fav. So getting some eucalyptus trees, is not only great for the bees, but also great flavour for the honey. :) Oh, and good on your husband, for taking something new on.
ReplyDeleteI am worried how the bees will cope Chris. There are a lot of trees etc in the vicinity of our block, so I am hopeful they will find enough.
DeleteWe are going to get some insulated hives as we are concerned about the heat that might come in January. We have two small lawn areas and I am going to replace one with eremophila's and ground covers and the other with garden beds of herbs and plants that the bees will love. We will be also planting as many trees as we can. It may take a bit of water to establish them but I think it is something we need to do. I have put some moringa tree seeds in pots hoping they come up as they are such a fast growing tree, and apparently the flowers are loved by bees. I am also going to plant out pigeon pea seeds this week. I will go and visit our local arid lands botanic garden tomorrow and see what plants I can pick up. The grow and sell them there.
We may go back to Jembella farm and do one of the bee workshops they put on. The more information we know the better off the bees will be. We have already learned so much we didn't know :)
How exciting! You two are so industrious. I have lots of bees, here, too. They love the wild sunflowers, squash blossoms, and fruit trees. Hollyhocks are another of their favorites, and they do well in the heat.
ReplyDeleteIt is exciting Stephenie! I am loving having lots of bees around, the plants are going to love them too. I am going to organise more flowers for them, thank you for sharing what your bees like. I have some hollyhock seeds here somewhere, will chase them up today xxx
DeleteHa, I love that you called the hives B1 & B2! :)
ReplyDeleteHaha Joolz! Phil's wacky sense of humour!
DeleteOne of the most satisfying life moments was pouring off my first batch of honey after extracting it all by myself! Magic moment that I will never forget. Seeing the world through bees perspective makes you far more observant and caring of our environment.
ReplyDeleteAll the best with the bees and new garden plans,
Kate
Thank you Kate.
ReplyDeleteWe are eager to get our first lot of honey. The bees have been very busy and we can smell the delicious smell of honey coming from the hives.
We are encouraging others around us to get bees, the more interest the better, for the bees and the world :)
xTania
Tania, that is wonderful! I hope it will be a real success for you. I love the photos. I want to mention something, and I'm sure you've heard of it before. I have arthritis in my hands (started with me doing too much hand weeding and hurting my hands.) I have to be careful of them and can't knit or crochet anymore and until recently, even writing with a pen or pencil has been painful. The neighbors invited me to come over and pick pears off of their wonderful tree a couple of months ago. As I tried to grasp one, a "yellow jacket" stung my finger! Ouch! But ever since then, my hands have been significantly less painful. I've heard of people using bees to treat arthritis, but now I've experienced it first hand!
ReplyDeleteWow that is really interesting loves2spin. I am definitely going to research some more. Thank you for the great tip xxx
DeleteYou're most welcome. And I wanted to let you know I made your world famous fruit cake for a Church Christmas party last week. The people who ate it, loved it. I didn't have everything for it that I would have liked, so I just used pitted dates and raisins that I chopped up finely. I was also in a hurry, so I just simmered them in the orange juice instead of soaking them overnight. It was Really Good. :)
DeleteIt is always good to hear about others trying my recipes, thank you for letting me know. That fruit cake is definitely delicious, I think it is the orange juice that gives it the nice flavour. It makes a nice big cake too! So glad it worked out for you and the people at church enjoyed it.
DeletexTania