OMG.... I got a video to upload!!  Squee!!  Sorry for the delay in updates, but due to technical difficulties with the videos I was having zero luck.  And they are so much fun!  Well, we accidentally murdered the Queen Bee, so that wasn't actually fun.  Shit.  Do over.

We have HONEY COMB... or just comb, cause still no honey...

So excited.  So we had a Twitter friend who has been raising bees for about three years come over to check out the hive.  He was interested to check out the Top Bar Hive and to see what our bees were doing.  So were we... Was the Queen alive?  have they discovered pollen? what's going on in there??

First step, was donning on the sexy ass gear that is the armor of the Apiarist...

Next we ventured in to the yard.  A lot of the snow is gone... but everything is still brown, dirty and wet... it's like trudging through swamp land.  We started checking out the activity in the hive and YES, we have comb. No sign of the Queen or brood.  But the bees all seem happy so we're sure she's there somewhere.  We just need more pollen to actively encourage the process.  Check out the Video.. that I just learned to post... cause I actually LOOKED at the tool guide thing.  LOL.

Or maybe not.  Apparently I need to find out why the video won't load.  *sigh* But, here's some cool pics of the evening.  I'm kind of really proud of my bees.  Despite our amazing incompetence, they seem hell bent on surviving and doing their thing.

The BF and our fellow Apiarist (the one who knows what he's doing) taking bars off the top to see what's inside...

Tools of the trade.  We should get on that.  Also, the whole bee protective gear would be nice.  The bees were all in a mellow mood today, but that may not always be the case...

We have COMB!  Check it out.  Made me happy.  Unfortunately, they are building it on an angle and not along the grooves we made... so we're going to have to cut it off, place it back straight... and train them how to do it right.  Bee training.  Fun.  That will be on Saturday's blog.  We're attempting to do it while all the gathering bees are gone...

Happy bees,  just hanging out and doing their thing.  Not flying around all pissy and ready to attack.

The yellow stuff is pollen.  No honey or brood yet, but that's because this horribly cold and snowy spring hasn't really allowed for much of anything to start blooming.  I'm guessing they're getting it from the trees that are just starting to swell up...

New Visitor to the hive...

Well, I thought the naked gardening picture would cap the day... however, we had a new visitor to the hive... tee hee... is there anything my friends WON'T do?

The Naked Apiarist

Just when we thought the temps were going to be warm enough to get some bee action; it begins to rain and it even snowed this morning. Needless to say, the bees have not been moving around much and there doesn't seem to be much pollen to be had. Though I think the next sunny day will be "it." So not much to say, other than happy World Naked Gardening day. May I present to you the Naked Apiarist...

Reasons for Beekeeping...

Insecticide firms in secret bid to stop ban that could save bees:

'via Blog this'

One of the reasons I made the insane move to raise bees.

Because THAT's how you get ants...

Soooo... the zip lock feeder thingy has been working pretty good... but we had a major fail today with one of them and it would not stop leaking... and it leaked through the hive? So we had to do a re-do... but I'm guessing we're lucky and there is still a lot of snow on the ground... BECAUSE THAT'S HOW YOU GET ANTS... Now I'm all wondering what it would be like if the Ants and the Bees had a show down...could a tribe of ants climb in there and take over the hive? Has this ever happened? The Video... One week Video

More pics! from a friend with a good camera who does that stuff...

Great pics from a wonderful friend who has mad skills and a great camera... Enjoy!!

I'll Never let go Jack, I PROMISE... The Trail of Tears moves on to the Titanic

So yeah... this morning I went to go check on the bees and it was COLD... frost on everything. I was so worried about them, but I couldn't see any of them through the little plexigalss window. So at least I knew they weren't strewn across the bottom... dead. One evening down! Then we were told by a friend that we had to make sure the food source was close to the cluster in these temps, or they wouldn't get to it. So I fretted for the rest of the day until I got home. I run out to check the bees. And it may have been the low blood sugar after not having eaten anything all day...(ME, NOT THE BEES, WE THOUGHT WE'D LEFT THEM A GOOD FOOD SOURCE DAMMIT) but the areas around the hive looked like... uhm... SLAUGHTER. I tried to open up the hive to see if anyone was still left inside, but all the sticky goo we sprayed yesterday prevented me from wedging up the bars...

I was assured by a facebook friend and fellow beekeeper that it was just the hive disposing of their dead. I was sure that I was personally responsible for bee Titanic episode. All the frozen carcasses!! Oh Jack!!! But I digress.

Luckily the intrepid BF showed up later to open up the darn thing.. and feed them the super classy way. With zip lock baggies full of sugar water syrup stuff. Thank god for Facebook and the wonderful Wigi Tozzi and Jesse Joseph for helping me out and not making me feel like a mass murderer.

LOOK! It's the cluster... there is supposedly a Queen in the middle of that... and they look happy OK ALIVE.

So proud of sort of adopted son conquering his fear of bees and getting in to the mix. This boy was terrified of bees... and it just took a little bit of healthy ridicule to get him to don the ever so stylish mosquito netting and latex gloves to help out. Cause really, we're experts right? WHAT COULD GO WRONG? The boy must really love me to expose himself like this. Then we have the BF's boy. Fearless. His goal for the day was to PET a bee. Without the gloves or netting. I'm not really sure he gets the whole BEE thing... and I'm pretty sure when Child Protective Services come a knocking they might not be down with the whole thing either... but in the mean time... AWWWWW how CUTE!!!!!!!

Oh, and here's a close up of Bob.


This blog brought to you by the happy, smiling, porch Buddha...

Pictures and Links to Yesterday's Adventure...

Link to Facebook Video
Link to FaceBook Video
OK, so there are some videos from yesterdays adventure above and some pictures below. It was a lot of fun, but a little scary. The BF has really done all the work on these guys so far... he's totally in to it. This morning I went out there and tried to see something through the window, but I saw nothing. I'm sure they are still in there but it was really cold and I didn't want to open up the top and let the heat out... so I'll check again this evening when I get home. Hope the little guys are OK.

Getting the bees into the Hive... or as I like to call it, the Trail of Tears

Can I say one thing?  If you plan on being a bee keeper... read up WAY ahead of time...  This should not be a spur of the moment thing.  Especially if you live in Alaska... The BF and I normally take things slow... we haven't even changed our status on face book after dating for almost 10 months... but for some reason this struck a spark... so here we are Day 3.  I feel like a mass murderer.  Garage was way too cold... soooo. we had them in the "cold" bedroom in the basement with a window open.  Makes me wonder why the last room mate who had that room left??

Also, sugar water jammed up the sprayer... so we just sort of POURED it on the poor guys.  I feel like I'm running a gulag.  Yeah, I get it, they are bugs... but somehow, now that they are MINE... and I'm supposed to be their caretaker... I'm completely freaked out about their well being.  Sure, they aren't fluffy like a puppy... but I've taken the responsibility to care for them.. so you know, survival is kind of what the goal is.  I'm hoping they enjoy the $5 dollar a bottle Agave Nectar instead.

Seriously, I can't stress this enough... PLAN WAY AHEAD... bees wax is totally harder to find than you might think, linseed oil is only found boiled up here, and thankfully I found the last bottle of Cutting Board curing stuff that had mineral oil, bees wax and canuba in it... cause there was NOTHING else... if these bees make it.. it's like the Miracle Crack baby.

I feel so guilty cause I did not read ahead about this.  Wanting to save the world is all good and everything... but wow, folks, you need to read ahead to make sure you don't cause more harm than good.  *praying for the Queen to be happy and safe*  Also, if she makes it.. her name will be "Milagro" which means Miracle in spanish... all the other guys?  They'll be Bob.

So what do you get when a conversation about bee hive / colony collapse mixes with a little bit too much wine and an adventurous streak?  You end up with these in your garage less than a week later.

It's mid April in Alaska, and most of my yard is still covered in about a foot of snow, but the "bee guy" my boyfriend contacted had to move them quickly.  The BF picked them a few hours ago from a parking lot.  It all seems a little shady to me.  Who DOES that?  We need to keep them below 35 degrees so they don't start getting restless.  Apparently a zillion restless bees aren't a good idea.  I'm pretty sure I've bitten off more than I can chew, and I haven't even met the bees yet.  EXCITING!

I'm downloading free plans to build a Top Bar hive from the interwebz as I type this.  http://www.biobees.com/build-a-beehive-free-plans.php  And I just jammed the printer at work.  Whoops!  Hopefully the building of the Top Bar Hive will go smoother tomorrow.  But for tonight, it's me, a few glasses of wine a LOT of bee study... and the gentle hum of a zillion bees.  In my garage.  What could go wrong?