Hive Sweet Hive

This was a week of bee-related activities. Dave called Betterbee and moved up our bee pickup date, and they expedited our hive and tools to arrive sooner. Trevor was very excited about his very own bee suit and proceeded to tear it out of the package and put it on while I was checking through the invoice list. They don't technically sell child-sized suits, so I got the smallest adult size available. It's not too bad to have a bee suit with extra arm and leg coverage. And I can hem up those pants in ten minutes.



The hive usually comes as unassembled as bare pine sides; however, my DIY starter kit has been backordered since February. I substitued the assembled hive in order to have it before the bee pickup date. Because the frames I bought were plastic, they were reused from some other hive and were fragrant with the smell of beeswax and honey. All in all, the scent of fresh pine and honey is enough to make anyone swoon.

The hive needed two coats of paint. The nice thing about having renovated in the last year is that we started out in our first home with plenty of tools and hardware doodads around. I already had paint trays, unused 6" rollers, brushes, plastic tarps and stirrers. Unfortunately, the can I had stored away in the garage had hardened over the winter. I made a quick trip to Alburgh for some barn & fence paint -- surely hardy enough for beehive use. (I opted for it because it was $10 less per gallon than exterior paint.)



With two light coats, the wood was covered and the hive was ready for the field. Clearly, it was bee-approved because a friendly little ground bee from the herb garden came over to take a look. He walked around on the freshly-painted hive and asked if there were any apartments for rent. Alas, we are booked through 2009, but next spring there may be some new construction when a second hive arrives.

Trevor helped me load up the truck, sweep off the concrete footer, and place the boxes. And by "helped" I mean lashed the tops off dandelions with a garden stake sword and begged to drive the lawn tractor back to the house. But it's there, and it's ready for the bees to arrive tomorrow. The question is... am I ready for the bees to arrive tomorrow?

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