The Adventure began today… my bees arrived!
I’m babysitting Jaxon this weekend, so I had a helper on my run to town, but he slept through most of my visit and pickup at Bryant Honey! These guys sold me my Carniolan bees and some syrup for food. Plus, they helped with my biggest problem… my hive hasn’t arrived yet!
So what do you do when you have two pounds of honeybees and no hive to put them in?
I was hoping to keep them in their transport box a few more days, but they told me I needed to get them out tonight, and loaned me a box and some frames. They were a big help and I sure appreciate it, especially since they are very busy setting out bees themselves, and the mud hasn’t helped that situation!
The other part of the difficulty is that I’m not using a standard Langstroth hive like 90% of bee keepers do. I had to get into what is called the Kenyan Top Bar Hive… because it’s easier and smaller and needs less equipment! It was developed to be used in Africa, and it could be made by a variety of materials. It’s purpose was along the lines of Heifer International, which gives a cow to people to start their own herd, this hive would easily get them into the beekeeping/honey producing business.
All the way home, with a faint buzzing coming from the back of the Durango, I debated what to do… and I lucked out. When I got home, the carpenter who’s putting on the tin on my roof was here. Score! He had his table saw setting out, and I put in my request. He was confused at first, but we soon got on the same page and I ended up with three temporary top bars to fit in Bryant’s box.
This will last me until my hive arrives, and I can really film the idea and process of the Top Bar Hive!
I did film tonight’s Adventure, so that will help you visualize things some… and I hope to post it tomorrow.
I know this is all confusing… and there’s lots of information to understand. Give me the next few days and perhaps I can make things more clear.
For now… this link should take you to a great video on Top Bar Hives.
I may sign up to be an affiliate with this company… We’ll see when I receive my hive, and inspect it to see if it’s as great as I think it will bee! 😉
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