The bees are coming!

Well, I guess I’ve now officially learned the first rule of blogging, which is that sometimes you are too busy doing the things you're blogging about to have time to blog about those things. This has been a crazy busy week with things happening on all fronts, by which I mean both daughters, homeschooling, college applications, personal life, and bee world - just to mention the highlights.'

When last I blogged, the hives had been assembled and had their first coat of white paint. Since then a LOT has happened. On Saturday David, a fellow member of the beekeeper’s club, came to the house and helped me scout out a good location for the hives - close to the blueberry bushes, in sight of the house, not too shady, level ground, and far enough away from neighbors. The bees have to be in a place where they'll get full morning sun since that's their cue to rise and shine and get out there gathering nectar and pollen. David had tons of good information on beekeeping and even offered to drive with me to pick up the girls when they're ready! (I have yet to meet a beekeeper who wasn't nice!!) Since then I've gone to Lowe's about a million times and come home with: concrete blocks, 4x4s, more nails, more paint, straps to hold the hives in place when I go get the bees (so as not to lose them all somewhere along I-10) and too many other things to even remember. Seems like just when I think I'm finally all ready I think of something else I need or five more things I need to do.

This morning I got up at the crack of dawn (OK, it was about 7, but it seemed like the crack of dawn) and burned a pile of yard trash the size of a small house, trimmed the limbs on a tree that would have shaded the hive location, and put the final coats of paint on the hives, stands, bottom boards, and lids - all before breakfast. And somewhere in between all the outdoor work we managed to put in a full day of homeschooling, help Emmy with a college application, take a science test, buy groceries, go to a doctor appointment, make dinner, clean out the chicken coop, and work in two pet-sitting gigs. Then, just when I was ready to sit down and eat dinner, the phone rang and it was Bob J. telling me that my bees will be ready to pick up this weekend!!

So . . . stay tuned. Looks like I’m actually about to become a beekeeper!