Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Release of the Queen

 Well - there I am in all of my fancy regalia. I had a full tyvek suit from somewhere complete with booties (thank goodness) and I had rigged a bee hat with mesh and binders clips. That is the only thing that didn't go so well. Just because you have mesh in front of your face, does not mean it's bee proof. Especially when they tend to fly UP. If there is a gap between the mesh and the tyvek suit the bee flies right up in there.

I also am the proud owner of this fancy thing:
 
That is a smoker. Did not know that the fuel is sold separately. I improvised with egg crates - which worked, but I didn't have enough in there so it went out before I was finished. 

All in all it was quite a nerve wracking experience and I am actually really concerned that I let her out too soon. Here's what her little box looks like.
 I tried to get a better picture, but this is the best I managed. She is the one on the left with the white dot on her back.
 You really have to have a calm nerve to open up a box of 10,000 bees. And at one point you could tell they were getting upset with me because the tone of their humming went up a few notes.  I just walked away and talked to them in what I hoped was a soothing tone of voice. For now they have plenty of sugar water. But I now need to go search the interwebs for a proper bee helmet and information about looking for the queen and making sure she is okay.

No comments: