The bees are here! The bees are here!

This picture amuses me on several levels. It's in my storage shed, and unbeknownst to me at the time, it contains my very own basement cat resting on top of the wine buckets. Beneath her is our "wine cellar" (ha ha!) But yeah, there's our bees!!! The shed is fairly protected, so they should be dry and warmer than if out on the deck.

And yeah, bottom right corner is one of the big wheels. That may or may not have an Easter ride. Anyway! Enough about my messy shed!










Apparently the "twofer" picked up some volunteers. Find for here, but one of these hives is going to drive up to the Santa Cruz mountains! The driver is going to borrow my truck, preventing him from sharing a ride with many buzzy new friends.








A close up of the girls. I'm so fascinated to watch them! They were calmly interacting, me and the flash camera didn't seem to bother them at all.

When I first approached them I realized I was doing most everything wrong. I'd just ridden my bike home, so I'm sweaty. I'm wearing a black jacket with a black bike helmet, the only thing I wasn't wearing was leather!

They are so quiet! I expected more of a buzzing sound, but no, they were huddled around the queen and keeping warm.

The bees and queen have been together since Sunday, April 5. The queen cage has a cork in it, not candy, so we'll need to free her. We're planning to hive tomorrow afternoon / evening!

Finally - a video of the bees.