Whoo Hoo!!! I did it!!!

[Sean Kelly]

Man, what a rush!  I picked up my package of bees today and installed them.  My wife and daughter video taped the event while my great-aunt (grandmother's sister) was my helper.  After all the books, magazines, videos, internet posts, there was nothing that could have prepared me for the actual event.  I understand so much more now but have so many more questions.

First thing I would like to pass on to beginners who've bought the basic starter kits from any of the beekeeping supply companies:  TOSS OUT THE ALEXANDER VALE!  Man that thing is bad.  Worked great for a helper, but it kept falling in my face.  I'm really glad I picked up a folding vale and hat while I was at the beekeeping supply place getting my package.

I don't have a way to copy my camcorder video to my computer yet but I'll post the movie once it's available.  We did take a pic of me with the digital cam of me and my daughter with the package.  I'll post that once I scale it down a little.

I saw a post on here about bee poop not to long ago and I had a similar issue.  My clothes, the hive, everything was covered in this yellow/orange poop (I'm color blind, I'm guessing).  The difference here was I hadn't fed them any syrup besides what I lightly sprayed on the screen and this was a new package.  Was it because they were all locked up in the box for so long, they just needed to stretch their wings and go #2?  Or is something wrong? 

They sure didn't seem sick, man they were agressive!  I was under serious attack, got stung twice, but I kept my cool and everything went awesome!  I also understand why they make zippered vales now too!!!  Get one of them buggers under your hat and WHOO HOO!!!  :-)

I'm very excited about this adventure and I have all of you on this board to thank.  Everyone has been such an awesome help here.  Be expecting many more questions and concerns as I go a long.  :-)

Blessings,

Sean Kelly

[Mici]

congrats!
2 stings isn't that bad i would think.
about the bee poop, i wouldn't really know but it does make sense what you said about it.

[ZuniBee]

Congratulations Sean! Now get ready to watch them all the time. I had the same issue with my packages. I believe it was just a cleansing flight and with all the excitement they do it everywhere. The rain washed it off the hives and it never came back.

[AllanJ]

The difference here was I hadn't fed them any syrup besides what I lightly sprayed on the screen and this was a new package.  Was it because they were all locked up in the box for so long, they just needed to stretch their wings and go #2?  Or is something wrong? 

They sure didn't seem sick, man they were agressive!  I was under serious attack, got stung twice

You may have made the same mistake I did..  When I installed the package my bees were mean and I got stung within 5 seconds. Nothing like any video I have seen. The mistake appears to have been in applying the syrup to the screen. I applied it and then installed them a few minutes later.  I believe your supposed to spray them, let them eat it, spray them again, and again until they all have had a change to eat themselves silly.

I have a 2nd package going in this week so will find out if that makes a difference.

[KONASDAD]

You're Alexander vail works much better w/ a baseball cap under it. Stops it from flopping forward as you look into hive.

[Sean Kelly]

You may have made the same mistake I did..  When I installed the package my bees were mean and I got stung within 5 seconds. Nothing like any video I have seen. The mistake appears to have been in applying the syrup to the screen. I applied it and then installed them a few minutes later.  I believe your supposed to spray them, let them eat it, spray them again, and again until they all have had a change to eat themselves silly.

I have a 2nd package going in this week so will find out if that makes a difference.

AllanJ,
I read your original post a while back and I tried to learn from it.  After spraying the cage, I let them sit for a while.  Still didn't make much of a difference I don't think.  After watching the video my wife filmed of me, my package installation wasn't any different from all the other's I've seen.  It's just a whole other experience when you're behind the vale.  :-)

Konasdad,
Thanks for the tip with the Alexander vail.  It's gunna be my "helper" vale from now on.  I like my square folding vale and helmet much better.

I hope the girls are okay.  We had a big rain storm last night and I went out this morning to check on them and there was no activity.  Maybe it's too early.  The old package still had like 2 dozen bees in it clinging to the screen, all dead.  There were a couple dead bees sitting on the enterance of the hive also.  I noticed on the fence there were a couple bees here and there dead.  I feel all nervous and protective like I did when my daughter was born.  New dad syndrom.  lol  I want to go out there and pop open the hive and make sure they're all okay, but I know better.  Oh well, It's still early in the morn.  Maybe when it warms up some I'll see them come out.  :-)

Sean

[bluegrass]

I use the folding vail and hat as my spare.....I like the one piece clear view veil for every day use.

[AllanJ]

After watching the video my wife filmed of me, my package installation wasn't any different from all the other's I've seen.  It's just a whole other experience when you're behind the vale.  :-)

Ain't that the truth!!  :shock:

[beeginner]

GOOD JOB SEAN. The other day I got to open a hive for the frist time with out any gloves and I did not get stung. Then today I was helping the state Beekeeper/Boss lol and I had to brush some bees off an edge of the hive with my hand with out any gloves and I got stung once. Frist time ever to get stung by a honey bee but it was not bad at all. The frist day I helpd him we moves 12 or 9 hives to the house and for helping he gave me the vail and the hat and gloves and my bee coveralls. About a week ageo I was with 457 hives at once lol lot of dang bees. Now my truck has bee poo all over it lol. This is shure a lot of fun. Keep us updated.  and try not to get a bee in you pants like I did.   
        .
                   Carson

[Sean Kelly]

Today is day 3 and per the instructions of the bee farm I bought the package from, I removed the empty queen cage and replaced the frame that I took out.  Man those girls don't waste any time!  Already got burr comb on the inner cover!  The frame where the queen was already has comb built out, almost across the entire foundation now!  Three days!  That's fast!  I had no idea what to expect, way cool stuff.
It was warm and sunny for part of the day today (besides the rain this evening) and they were busy as all heck.  I grabbed a beer and popped down a lawn chair and watched them for like 2 hours.  Very relaxing, kind of like watching a campfire.
I'm really happy with the way things are going so far.  Seems they've accepted the plastic foundation just fine and I can't wait until next week when I do my first real inspection.

Here's a pic of me and my daughter before installing the package (forgive my messy hair.  I was wearing a baseball cap and took it off to put on my vale when the wife wanted a pic.)

[BeeLady]

Congrats on your first hive.  Great pic - what a cute future Beekeeper you have!

[dlmarti]

When do we get to see the video?

[Sean Kelly]

Congrats on your first hive.  Great pic - what a cute future Beekeeper you have!

I know, aint she adorable?!?!  She loves the bees.  Momma gets nervous when I take her out to the bee yard.  She's turning 21 months here soon (almost a terrible 2) and we really have to watch her out in the yard.  She's learned how to open the gate to the bees!  Scared the heck out of my wife!  No stings though!  Brave little girl!

My adopted sister is turning 11 and wants to be my helper really bad.  My parents are scared to death of my bees and aren't so sure about my little sis helping her big brother.  But I think they are warming to the idea.  I think they'll really warm up once I give them some fresh honey.

Oh yeah, and my next door neighbors are really cool about the bees.  They're very earthy people and think the bees are a awesome wonder for their gardens.  That's good news cause I was afraid they wouldnt be keen on the idea.  The only thing I'm afraid of is that if my hive swarms into their yard, they'll want the swarm to become part of nature instead of me putting them back in a box.  :-)

Sean

[buzzbee]

Sean
Congratulations on becoming a beekeeper. Don't worryabout the hathead we all get that from time to time!
Great pic,maybe you could post it in the family photo section.

[Sean Kelly]

When do we get to see the video?

As soon as I get the nifty hardware with RCA plugs in it to hook my camcorder up to our comp.  And after I edit out my wife chasing our daughter trying to escape with the camera still on and me yelling like a sailor after getting stung.  :-)

[Sean Kelly]

Thought I'd share a couple new pics of my hive.  Took these yesterday.  Almost got up to 60 degrees!  The girls were hard at work doin their thing.  They seem to have taken a liking to my huge maple tree and have been ignoring all my dad's fruit trees and the neighbors big cherry.  Oh well.  They have their job and I have mine (stealing all their honey!!!  WHOO HOO!!!).





Sean

[Sean Kelly]

Went out today and did my first inspection!  Couldnt find the queen but did see eggs laid in the comb on 2 frames.  Tons of pollen and even some honey stores started.  Refilled the enterance feeder again.  Two, one pint jars in one week!  Found more ear wigs and a weird yellow spider on the internal cover.  Weird burr comb coming off one of the frames with the eggs.  Like they drew it out too far and started going down at a angle.  Didn't remove it, figured that the frames were just spaced too far apart and pushed them together a little closer.  The bees were MUCH calmer compared to the package install.  It was almost like they didnt even care we were there.  I'm hoping I was blessed with a docile hive.  :-)

Today was also the first day I noticed field bees coming home LOADED with pollen pellets.  My little sister (just turned 11 today) was my helper and she noticed it first, said "What's wrong with that bee's legs?  Looks like something's wrong with it."  Massive pollen pellets!   Big orange ones, I think from the maple tree in front of the hive.

Wish I could have gotten pics but my wife was trying to catch our 1 1/2 year old and she had the camera with her.  We did get a really nice pic of me and my sister all suited up ready to go (see below).

Also proud to report that we experienced no stings!  Way cool!!!  So far so good!

Sean Kelly

[beeginner]

That is really cool sean good photos to.

[buzzbee]

Great photos Sean,And really cool your such a big brother to your little sister.These will be memories that last forever! :)