Feed the Bees

This morning Earl took me out to the hives!!!!  He has recently expanded his home operation to some beautiful secluded land in the neighboring town of Port Costa.

Earlier this month his hives arrived, so he's still establishing the new colonies--about 24 new hives.  When a colony is developing at the beginning, you have to feed them sugar water as they have yet to fully explore their surroundings and find all the good spots for pollen and nectar.  You take a quart jar that has tiny holes in the lid,  turn it upside down, and set it on two pieces of wood that will allow the bees to get underneath the jar and drink from the slow drip.  Earl says that a hive will finish off a jar in about a day and a half.  You can see the two sticks I'm talking about in the picture below.

You can also see some comb that is on the stick.  Earl had to knock that off--I can't remember why.  Earl would lift the lids off the hives and remove the empty jar, then I would come behind him and put in a full jar and close the hive. 

Check me out in Earl's beekeeping veil :-)

I did get stung once on the leg through my jeans, so I guess that makes 5 times that I've been stung in the last week.




Earl also pointed out the poison oak, which is in bloom.  Thank goodness I know what it looks like now so that I can avoid it!  Apparently the bees like it though.  I wonder what kind of honey it makes...

And he also showed me the poison hemlock that grows all over the place.  I would have thought that it was Queen Ann's Lace if he hadn't told me otherwise.