We had a good first season with our bees. We haven’t had to do much for them in the warmer weather, but it’s getting time to prep for winter. I went out Friday after work just to see what everybody was up to.
We started out with two nucs. I named one Cam and the other Mitchell. And we watched how they worked and produced through the spring and summer. Cam just went crazy and seemed to thrive more than Mitchell. Mitchell did fine, but we did see a few hive beetles toward mid-spring. I treated our whole yard with beneficial nematodes in early May and that really seemed to help. But for the most part, we just let them do their thing.
Cam gave us about two gallons of honey at the beginning of July. I should’ve done a better job documenting the process, but the process was just so sticky and delicious! It was about that time that my husband did a “walk away” split with Cam. He pulled frames of eggs, brood, honey, and pollen, and put it with some empty frames in a new hive. Then, as the name suggests, he walked away and hoped a new queen would be raised. That hive, of course, is named Lily.
I was worried about Lily. We could see bees coming and going from there, but we weren’t sure how things were inside the hive. So Friday I popped the top off for a peek. I was working the bee yard alone and didn’t have my smoker going, so I didn’t pull any frames. But it’s been two months and all seems well! Now we just have the winter.
I pulled the top off Cam, too, and the smell of honey was so strong! There must be 100 pounds of honey in there! I got the warning thump several times from an angry worker, though. Luckily I was wearing my veil and jacket. Cam is usually pretty docile, but they didn’t like me Friday evening, so I apologized for the inconvenience and closed the hive back up.
So as the bees get ready to hunker down for the colder months, I’m getting ready to start … Wait for it … 5K training. I’ve been putting in about 100 miles a month (mostly walking) for the past couple of months. Then I started to add intervals of running. Then I bought running shoes? It was a weird process. I kept wondering what the hell had happened to me. I am not an active person.
Then I registered for the actual training that will prep me for my actual first 5K in December. My training with the group starts in October. And when I found out that the half-marathon training starts the same day as my 5K, I actually found myself saying, “Yep! I’m doing that, too!” But I’m going to wait and see if I can finish a 5K without having to call a cab.
Sweet or Un 