Friday, September 2, 2016

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

Or, in the case of the bees, their pheromone receptors...

My new smoker arrived in the mail yesterday and I needed to change the feeder. After checking in with our next door neighbor about when would be a good time (meaning, their kids were in for the night) I got the smoker, a jar of syrup, my new (not red) bee suit and all the rest of the necessary gear ready. I even got the mouse-guard figuring I should replace it while I have a chance.

What a pleasant and easy experience that was! Even when I dropped a screw for the mouse-guard and had to go back in the house for another. By the time I did that, I didn't have the gloves or veil on anymore but the bees were once again fine with me working around them without it.

The smoker burned through it's fuel very quickly and was cold by the time I was ready to go inside. How wonderful is that?

After this, the next jars of syrup will be 2:1 (2 pounds sugar to 1 pint water) and I'm to keep their food at that ratio until it's time to stop feeding them, in one month. Then I'll get their fondant boards ready for sealing up the hive in November. It's hard to think of cold weather right now but, for the first time in a while, the weather has been pleasant.

Sting count: 0
Total sting count: 30.

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