The new beehives

Yesterday Cynthia and I set out bright and early for a trip to Sparta GA to get two bee nucleus colonies. One of our hives decided to fly the coop (hive?) over the winter, so we drove two hours east to the outskirts of Egypt to pick up new beehives. New beehives come in nucleus colonies. A nucleus colony (nuc) contains a Queen, a bunch of workers, a bunch of eggs and some honey for the bees to snack on while they get situated in their new home.

ExploreGeorgia.org says the following about Hancock County, where Sparta is situated: “…is home to an estimated 600 historic sites, which are reflective of a rich American Indian, European and African American history and culture. A journey down Sparta’s streets and Hancock County’s back roads provides a glimpse of the romantic past, recalling the days when cotton was king.” If that doesn’t sound like coded language I don’t know what does.

Our trip was delayed a bit due to biology. After two hours in the car drinking coffee both of us were looking very forward to a pit stop. We learned, however that a water main had broken somewhere nearby the exit, and after stopping at a gas station, two fast food restaurants and a Home Depot and getting rebuffed each time we white knuckled it and drove on, hoping and praying for a solution. We were rewarded several miles down the winding road.

My lovely friend Mary lives on a big farm out off Pumping Station Road, just past the Shoulderbone Plantation. She raises bees and her husband Jeff owns and manages a huge loblolly pine operation. Loblolly pines are considered the most commercially important trees in the Southeastern US. The lumber is used in basically everything construction related-furniture, plywood, pilings, pallets and boxes. The mulch in your yard probably consists of loblolly pine. Jeff’s operation is significant.

We picked up the bees, which are in two specially designed cardboard boxes and set off back to East Point. As we got onto 285 heading home a bee buzzed up towards the windshield. So now I’m navigating horrendous Atlanta traffic wish a loose bee buzzing around less than two feet from our faces. Cynthia and I talked to her and tried to keep her calm-putting ourselves into her shoes (wings?)realizing how stressed she probably was-a country girl in the big city for the first time.

We made it home without incident. I got the girls situated in their new spots in Cynthia’s backyard. When orienting a new hive, the rule of thumb for a nucleus colony is to open a small door on the front of the nuc box to allow ventilation and to allow the more adventurous bees to bop around the surroundings, and go back and install the frames into a brood box at a later date. Opening the front door, the bees flooded out. The original plan was to go back today and transfer the frames into the permanent brood box.

Today it’s raining and storming and windy and disgusting, so we’ve had to regroup and modify our strategy. It might have to be tomorrow.