This past weekend we checked on the bees to see how they made it through the winter. It was 53F and sunny – a perfect day for visiting them. The main agenda was to see how their numbers were looking and how much honey they had left. If their numbers were low, we would plan on replacing the hive. If their numbers looked good but they had little left in the way of food stores, we’d start feeding them sugar syrup soon so they wouldn’t starve before the world started blooming. In order to check on these things, all we needed to do was lift the lid off the top box and peek in; the bees and their honey would be accessible from the top, and the queen and any new brood she might have would be down in the lower boxes. Hopefully she’s not laying many eggs yet, though. It’s a bit early for that.

We decided that with the cool weather, the bees would probably be pretty calm and would remain in the hive while we checked them, so we left the smoker in the car. Liam and I put on our bee jackets, while George opted to skip using his. I did manage to forget to zip the hood on my jacket, so my head was completely exposed. Whoops. But as I said, we were quite convinced the bees would be docile.

Upon trekking out to the two remaining hives, however, it became clear that there was significant coming and going activity from the hives. I loosened the strap on the first one and lifted off the cardboard insulation and telescoping lid, then gently pried off the inner lid and moisture board with my hive tool. What I saw was the picture attached to this blog post: LOTS of bees! So, no problem with their population size. I poked my hive tool into some of the comb on the frames and it came out sticky, meaning there was still honey left for the bees to eat. After repeating this a few times, we decided this hive looked fantastic and closed it back up, insulation and all, since there’s snow in the forecast for later in the week.

The second hive was also full of energy. I loosened the strap and again pulled off the insulation and telescoping lid. This time, the inner lid and moisture board came with it, and the bees were immediately exposed. As I peeked in to check their honey stores  one bee flew up and stung me on my right jawline. Doh. That didn’t freak me out, but it then got stuck in my hair and I couldn’t brush it out. I tried to walk away from the hive, so as not to attract any more bee attention, because when one bee detects a threat she’ll release a pheromone that gets all the other bees excited too, and you’ll find yourself in the midst of some really angry insects. As I was stepping away from the hive, trying to gently remove Ms. Bee from my hair, I tripped on the hive base and managed to fall. Okay, now it was time for George and Liam to finish checking that hive on their own because I had to get up and move away from that hive before I clumsily did anything else to screw things up. I wandered 20 feet or so from the hive and had Liam come over to help me get the bee out of my hair, but it had since gone down into my jacket. I finally got it out, only to have it (or a different one?) fly directly down my shirt and into my bra. That is not something I’d recommend to anyone. After cracking a couple of jokes and delicately showing the bee the way out, I found myself bee-free and began heading back to the van for some Benedryl while the menfolk finished closing up the hives. I’m glad I only ended up with the one sting! George ended up with a sting under his left eye, as well. Liam, aka The Bee Whisperer, of course still maintains his record of no stings.

Things I learned: 1. Zip my bee jacket hood. 2. I don’t like bees in my bra. 3. When I’m stung on my jawline, I end up looking like a hamster who’s stuffed his cheek full and then never empties it. 4. Spending time treating and winterizing your bees well in the fall means they’ll look really, really good in the late winter.

The next step is to order more packages of bees, which I will do this week. I’m going to order three 3-pound boxes of hygienic Carniolan bees, and we will start three more hives in April to go with the two left over from last year, bringing us once again to five hives. This year I plan to be much more aggressive in looking and treating for mites, so honey production isn’t slowed down as much as it was last year.

Until then, I’m zipping my bee suit hood and bringing the smoker with us to the hives!