Kristi's "NewBee" Adventure #2 "The Hives Arrive"

Do you remember the first car ride home with your newborn? Well, that is how I felt taking these two hives home. I picked up two packages of bees today from Eli. He even had coffee and some delicious treats waiting for us when we came. The support I have gotten from Eli and Ryan, unreal! I couldn't have done this without them, well I guess I could've have but not nearly as confident in this process.

I drove away with 6 pounds of bees sitting on my lap and despite reading the books, watching the YouTube videos, going to class and listening at our Stark County Bee Association, I suddenly felt like I had no idea what I was to do.

I was surprised how calm they were (that would soon not be the case). The day was rushed as I had my daughter's 18th birthday party where there would now be 20,000 guests attending since the weather was too cold.

Around 10:00 p.m. I began to panic.. The bees in one package seemed a little aggressive. Thank goodness for technology and a mentor that ROCKS! I was able to send Ryan a video and he quickly gave me advice. I mixed together sugar water and sprayed the bees and the screen really well. I read somewhere that dark may help so I closed curtains and shut lights off. The bees seemed to go from calm to agitated multiple times.

I debated about installing Sunday. The weather certainly was cold (middle 40's) and was suppose to get pretty cold that night. My bees seemed like they weren't getting any syrup or at least not much syrup. We decided to hold off until Monday when the weather looked more promising.

NEXT blog..... INSTALLING!