Installing four nuc hives to start the 2016 honey bees beekeeping season

Honey Bees: Beekeeping 2016 Season

Honey Bees on the Farm

The 2016 Beekeeping season is officially started on the Daddykirbs Farm! The Golden Son Beekeeper and I made a drive about 3.5 hours north of us to meet a beekeeper friend to get honey bees in nuc hives. He was very kind to prepare 4 nucs for us out of his own apiary.

Nucs, or nucleus colonies, are small honey bee colonies created from larger colonies. The term refers both to the smaller size box and the colony of honeybees within it. The name is derived from the fact that a nuc hive is centered on a queen, the nucleus of the honey bee colony.

We met in a very windy parking lot where we wrapped the hives in mesh laundry bags to keep the bees contained for the ride home. the drive was uneventful… No crazy bee swarm induced car wrecks, Yay!

Placing nuc hives in laundry bags to contain the honey bees.
The honey bees were going to ride in the cab of the car for 3+ hours. The laundry bag keeps them contained.

When we arrived home there was still a little daylight so we worked to get some of the nucs installed. The bees were insanely angry and we were losing daylight fast so we didn’t get them all installed and certainly didn’t get very much usable video.

Installing Honey Bees

Most of this video was shot the next day when things were a little more calm. I hope you enjoy this time that you spend with us!

Beekeeping, as with most projects on the farm, is a journey. We are in our 5th season, but we are still very much learning how be beekeepers. This season I feel a little more confident than last season.

Every time we do something new and spend money to continue this experiment I wonder if we are making a mistake. No, not a mistake for the bees. I’m glad to help be a part of the efforts to save the bees. The mistake I’m talking about is making another project on the farm. This project will take my time and my money. Over time we will have to learn to trim some of the projects on the farm so we can focus on those that make our farm productive and enjoyable. For this season… beekeeping made the cut. We are at it for another year and ramping up our efforts.

Travel safely in a car with nuc beehives!
Travel safely in a car with nuc beehives! Slip the nuc hives in a mesh laundry bag and sinch that drawstring tight!

Greenstalk Vertical Garden planted with vegetables next to a wooden fence.

Buy Greenstalk Vertical Gardens! http://lddy.no/25if 
(affiliate link - Daddykirbs Farm. Thank you.)
Coupon Code DADDYKIRBS to get up to $10 off!


One thought on “Honey Bees: Beekeeping 2016 Season”

  1. Very well written post. It will be supportive to anyone who utilizes it, as well as yours truly :). Keep up the good work – looking forward to more posts.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.