A "Panic Moment" at Sunnyside Farms today...

Today was just one of those days!  I got up and went to check my hives early and to place my feeders on the hives.  Their food is basically a 1:1 mix of water and sugar.  All was well at 7:30 AM! Or so I thought!

My husband knew I was on the prowl for Mason jars to use as feeders on the hives.  He worked midnight last night and was able to scrounge up two for me.  While cleaning them in the sink, one shattered while he was washing it and sliced his finger wide open! A trip to the emergency room and a few stitches later, all was well.  Does anyone know just how many times I have heard the words "We have to run to the hospital?" 
Thankfully it has never been anything too serious!

I checked on the girls periodically throughout the day.  At 5:00 PM this evening, I again went to check on the hives.  (I know! But remember, I am REALLY excited!!).  All heck was breaking loose at hive #2!  Bees flying madly around everywhere.  Hive #1 was relaxed and calm with a minimal amount of activity.  What is going on??  My first thought was "Oh no...They are getting ready to swarm!".  My (and every other beekeeper's) biggest nightmare.  A swarm can occur at any time and it is really just nature's course.  The bees might feel like their is simply not enough room and choose to go elsewhere. 

Then I thought...ROBBERS!  Others are trying to steal my girls honey!!  I raced back to the house to look on the internet for signs of swarming or robbing.  Went to my handy dandy reference of http://www.beesource.com/!  I always find a ton of info there! 

I was hesitant to call my bee mentor, Mr. Fine, because it was less than 24 hours since picking them up!  He has had the patience of Job with me thus far and  I really didn't want to wear out my welcome this soon. 

Here is the way I found the hives...

You can't tell from the picture so much, but there were TONS of bees flying all over hive #2!  Found a few really good videos on Beesource which addressed my problem.  They were simply taking orientation flights to get used to their new surroundings!  After 20 minutes or so, all was back to normal!!

I did happen to catch something rather interesting while at one of my many trips to the hives today.  Found a few bees dragging a dead bee from inside the hive to throw her off of the landing board and get rid of the evidence! 

Rather sad, isn't it?  My heart broke for her and for the others carrying out her funeral...

Picked up my "girls"!

The girl's are officially home!  We went over to Mr. Fine's home today where he has so many hives!  Another gentleman was there to pick his hives as well which is why I changed my plans and  picked mine up this evening as well.  I wanted to watch the process of Mr. Fine transferring the honey bees from their nucs into our hives.  It was wonderful!

It was so scary but so much fun!  There were bees flying everywhere, landing on my suit, crawling up my veil, all over my gloves...I will never forget that moment as long as I live.  The sound was incredible.  I put my hands on quite a few nuc boxes to feel the vibration.  Magical.  Simply magical. 

This is my mentor Mr. Fine.  He patiently answers each and every one of my questions without fail.  Notice he never wears gloves!

Getting the other gentlemans hives ready.  He was also such a trooper for allowing me to tag along on watching and filling his hives.

Arrived home a few minutes later and heaved the hives onto their stands.  Notice my husband standing quite close with no protection on at all.  They are quite gentle.  He also was my photgrapher for the evening as well as Travis Jr. here at the end.

I did make one error...when dropping off of my equipment last night, I had forgot to leave the inner cover.  Once I returned home with the girl's, I had to add one to each hive.

Biggest highlight of the evening....I didn't get stung!!!!!!