Preparing for the Bees 2013

Preparing for the Bees 2013

This year preparing for bees involved a small army. From early seeding to ordering plugs and non-GMO seeds, lining up farmers and crews for clean-up and installing a couple more pads for new hives.

jeff wolinski
Jeff Wolinski preparing for the bees on our farm with wildflower seed
farming for bees and handplanting seeds on chesterhaven beach farm
Jeff Wolinski sharing the "showy mix" seed
The crew gets preparing for the bees by setting the pads for hives
Beekeeper mentor Dale Large preparing for the bees with crew
one pad site of bee condos
Supers waiting for the bees
Michael Embry and Dale large at Chesterhaven Beach Farm
Michael Embry and Dale Large, the two King Bees that I am learning beekeeping from
boxes of bees
Michael Embry drove up from Georgia where he picked up bees and shared footage of the bee collection process.
michaels shed
University of Maryland Wye River Educational Center, Michael Embry's bee shed

We installed 9 new hives on April 7, 2013. It's been the typical Eastern Shore "unpredictable" weather these last couple of weeks. Our original bee delivery was scheduled for a week ago and because of colder temperatures and rain, delivery was delayed a week. Just a few notes from this third year "new-bee":

  • I placed the bee order back in January. All bee orders should be in by the end of January
  • I purchase my hives (rather than hand-make them), and I ordered those back in January
  • All pads and preparation work for the new hives was completed a week ago so that when the bees arrived, our focus was installing them.
  • All farming and seed discussions also took place starting in January and continue...
  • The first round of wildflower seed was distributed at the end of March

This year I ordered my package bees from Michael Embry from the University of Maryland Wye Research and Education Center. Michael teaches the beekeeping 101 class on Maryland's Eastern Shore. It was a great experience to buy bees from someone as knowledgeable on the subject who also works with so many beekeepers on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. He drove 24 hours straight down to Georgia and back to Maryland and had us all lined up to pick up as soon as he arrived. The bees were fresh and despite cooler climate, the very next day hit close to 80 degrees, and I am hoping that the girls are feeling welcome and all set in their new home.

Installation notes:

  • Michael Embry suggested we follow the "Indirect Queen-Release Method I" outlined very thoroughly in The Beekeepers Handbook, Fourth Edition by Diana Sammataro and Alphonse Avitabile. We will return to the hives by Thursday to remove queen cages etc.
  • Our queens were marked so no more searching for unmarked queens for this new beekeeper!

Kara holding a hive frame in doorway of cabin

About the Author

Kara waxes about the bees, creates and tests recipes with her friend Joyce, and does her best to share what she’s learning about the bees, honey, ingredients we use and more. Read more about Kara