One of the nice things about being a beekeeper is the fact that it is kind of novel and people have tons of questions. Just this past month I gave an interview to th elocal newspaper about my bees. The interview lasted quite some time and the reporter, who is an excellent writer, seemed quite engaged by the topic.

The photographer was another story. I think that the thought of being within a few feet of several thousand bees was to much to contemplate. After several attempts at setting a date and time, in fact, I ended up having my lovely wife take the photos.

After a few candids were taken I decided to use up some time and shot several extreme closeups of the bees as they arrived back to the hive from a day of forraging. So delicate were their wings and gentle feelers. The smell of the hives, the murmur of the grass and the low buzz of the brood chamber. It brought back all the reasons that I am keeping bees.

Beekeeping makes you slow down. In the age of ATM's and the World Wide Web, beekeeping is still as simple today as it has been for centuries. I like observing and could watch the hive for hours on end. The best part is the slow pace of discovery.

In fact it was the observation recently of birds & bees that has brought up an interesting question. I have two ,count em, two pairs of nesting Baltimore Orioles. On each side of the hives hanging over the bees are the brightly colored nesters. Is this a coincidence? A friend at MassAudubon reports of a South American bird in the same family as the Baltimore Oriole that does just what I have described. The bird nests near bees so that the bees will provide safety from predators at the nest. I have emailed the local beekeepers with the question as to whether they have observed the same in the vicinity of their nests. Three beekeepers have reported that indeed there may be something to all this.

After I had put away the camera and taken off my veil, the sun had just about set and the mosquitos began their unmerciful attacks. As I walked towards the house a bright orange Oriole flitted past and into the hanging nest. I was happy to have the ballance of all things just right.

audblog audio post

audblog audio post

It has been so very wet and damp here in Canton. The weather has deflated the ego's of many of the bees in the hives at the edge of the brook.

I received three calls this week from area residents reporting swarms. Of the three, only one swarm was picked up by a Norfolk County Beekeeper. Gary Libby travelled all the way to Stoughton to pick up a two and a hlaf pound ball of bees from a low hanging branch. The bees have been safely installed in a hive on the property of Ward's Berry Farm where they will happily polinate many crops throughout the summer.

I placed brood chambers on all three of my hives two weeks ago in order to give the gals more room to flex their wings. I hope to have honey supers on by July 4th.

We'll see...Tut Tut Looks Like Rain.

Norfolk County Beekeepers Association

On Monday I installed a very strong package of bees into my third hive. These bees were rearing to go, as they had already begun to make honeycomb inside their shipping container.

I installed the bees late in the day so that they would settle into their new home without much fuss. I have to say that it was and always will be an amazing experience. Several thousand bees flying around and ultimatley settling into their new hive. The sounds, smells and sights are so wonderful. It was if all nature was coalescing at my little hive spot.

So, all three hives are now up and running. I will check tonight to see if the newest hive has released and accepted the queen into the colony. All is well from Postfield.

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The trees are producing such amazing amounts of pollen this late in the year. Having such a rough winter has pushed Spring into late May. In fact it is still cool here and overcast today. The bees are a bit ornery due to the change in weather and the damp week we have had.

Otherwise all is well.

Early this morning I took a walk down to the hives. As the morning sunshine warmed the white boxes, several of the more daring "scouts" were out and about getting used to their new surroundings.

Life on Pequit Brook is very different from their home in Louisiana. Soon they will lose their southern buzzin drawl. The bees are hovering in front of their hive to begin fixing their location and new home. Over the next few days they will hover farther and farther as they get used to the surroundings.

What do they see with their bee eyesight? As they hover back farther and further, they will see their brook, several bird boxes, a woodland scene, a swamp and a great nature preserve. They will forage over two miles and return to their brood chamber with the pollen that will nourish and enrich the colony. My bees will polinate countless vegetable gardens, fruit trees and flower beds. There is nothing quite like the warm buzzing of the apiary on a gentle spring day.

audblog audio post

audblog audio post

While it has been awhile since I have blogged, Spring has occasioned upon us here in New England, and as such I have begun my musings again. All of my bees had died this past winter.

It had been a tough year and I think that by December all three hives had pretty much been wiped out. In March I failed to hear the telltale buzzings inside. On a warm late winter day I opened the hives to find all of the bees dead. It was pretty depressing to lose all those insects.

But, with life comes certain death, and in the case of the beekeeper, there are so many things that can destroy a colony, it was pretty evident that this was to be my lesson. In moving on, I have purchased two nucs from Merrimac Appiaries and these gals are very strong.

Yesterday I nstalled two fresh nucs into the hives. Bees and Beekeeper doing well.

Yesterday I opened the hive for a brief inspection. All is going extremely well. The bees are building up large quantities of brood comb and they are all so very busy. In fact, the bees are so busy that I was able to perform my inspection without any protective gear at all. The bees remain calm and have a very nice disposition.

I will let a few weeks go by and then before I add a second brood chamber, I'll do an inspection of the drawn frames.

All else is going well. It is another rainy day here at Postfield. Blech...

I inspected the hive last night. Of concern to me has been the fact that for most of the past week we have had rain and very overcast days. The chill and damp has kept the gals inside and they have consumed about a quarter of the medicated sugar syrup that I have mixed up for them.

All appeared calm and the bees seem busy down in the frames. I am trying to keep them stress free and look forward to warmer, sunnier and calmer weather. Soon they will be seeking out pollen and nectar. I will do a second more in-depth inspection over the next few days.

The bees have arrived and this past Saturday they are in their new hive. About 10,000 bees have begun to forage in and around Postfield. They have been very active and over the past few days I have seen them carrying large quantities of pollen in their leg baskets.

The transfer of the package of bees was textbook perfect, except I did lose the Queen Bee for a few minutes when I had accidently dropped her cage into the mass of bees already poured into the hive. But, all went well in the end.

Today is rainy and overcast, the bees will not be to happy and should stay in most of the day. I'll do my first hive inspection later this week. All outward signs are good this early. Unfortunately, the bees arrived fairly late (May 18th) and it will be a busy summer for the little ladies of the Postfield Honey Company.