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| In the bee keeping class they told us that how much protective gear we wore was a matter of comfort. We should wear enough to make us feel comfortable. As I would soon find out, this is bull. Here I am being an idiot and thinking I might start out with just the gloves. This photo, in fact, was taken at the exact moment that I realized I was an idiot. I had just given the bee package the thump your supposed to give it against the ground to knock the bees down from the top of the package so you can open the package without them all crawling out. I gently but firmly thumped the package on the ground and, just like in all the YouTube videos I'd seen, the bees fell to the bottom of the package in a big pile. However, unlike all of the YouTube videos, the bees then instantly returned to the top of the package. All I managed to do was make them mad. I realized this and, before opening the package, I took a moment to nervously put on my protective gear. |
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| Here is me lifting the queen box out of the package. The bee are livid! At this point everything smells like bananas, which is the alarm pheromone bees can release that summons others to attack. |
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| Here's me running away. In my nervousness I had forgotten to tie off my pant legs and some bees found there way inside and were stinging my leg. |
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| Later, I return dressed in the full protective outfit. At one point, though, one bee still manages to get in and sting me on the neck. |
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| At this point, I've removed the outer cork from the queen box, hung the queen box on the inside of one of the top bars, dumped all of the bees out of the package and into the hive, and replaced the bars. |
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| I later return with a flash light to see if the bees are forming a cluster around the queen the way they are supposed to. |
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| They hadn't yet formed a cluster around the queen and the hive still smelled like bananas. Here's a photo of me walking away in defeat. |
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| During the night the hive had a number of visitors, such as this cat. |
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| Another cat. |
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| A raccoon. |
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| And another cat. |
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| Early in the morning, when it was still cold, I put the cover back on top of the hive, but I could neither see nor hear any signs of life in the hive. However, at around the time this photo was taken, Bees began stirring and emerging from the entrance. |
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| As the day warmed further, the bees began coming out and searching the nearby area. I still don't know the status of the queen, but one can hope. |
