Friday was so exciting with the arrival of our bee packages. Saturdays install went awesome. Phewf! We did it right for first timers. When a package is installed the Queen is in a box with candy that the attendant bees eat to release her. One queen was released really quick. (It should take 2-3 days not one.) When I checked the hives on Sunday one hive was really busy the other no activity. Peaked inside and there were absolutely no bees in there! (How did I misplace 10k bees?!)
We left them alone yesterday. My father in law and I took a walk up this morning. It’s raining so no bee activity and no buzzing when I listened to the hives. Sadly they both were empty. This is called absconding in the bee world. https://honeybeesuite.com/why-did-your-bees-leave/
I had a small pity party and ate my feelings in guacamole. I spoke with my mentor and she recommended I walk around the property to see if I could find them any where. I didn’t find them. My mentor said this is bee error not beekeeper error. Bee packages are tricky. I’m going to give it a try with a NUC (mini bee colony) the beginning of next month. This isn’t the first time I’ve given it my all and experienced great failure. It certainly isn’t my last…
Hoping my next bee update is more cheery 🐝🐝
Tiffany
Twin Bears MapleWorks 