A few weeks ago I shared some fun ways to learn without a textbook.
At the time, My Big Helper was in the midst of bee school, a hardcore, 10 week-plus-two-field-trips class offered by the Orange County Bee Association. This class was much more intense than I anticipated, but she worked her way through it carefully and joyfully.
With the advent of spring, her bees have arrived, and we’ve installed her bee packages into their new hives in the backyard. We definitely had a lot to learn, but her beekeeping days have begun.
We picked up the packages of bees. Each box contains three pounds of bees – approximately 10,000 – 12,000 bees per box – plus food and a queen in a small cage.
The queens have to be removed carefully from the package and installed into the hive, and then the rest of the bees are gently dumped into the hive.
We’ve all enjoyed hanging out near the hives ever since. It’s fascinating to watch the bees. Within a few days, My Big Helper spotted a drone, a waggle dance, and pollen packed into the bees’ pollen baskets.
Who knew that there was so much to learn about these tiny insects?
