New bees today in Bend, Oregon, USA! May 18, 2019

I left off during mid_June 2015 with healthy hives and rather routine reports. A quick update on those hives: the Warre hive did well until winter set in; the moisture level was extremely high and the bees could not survive even though I has provided good insulation. Apparently there was inadequate upper ventilation so when I opened the hive during spring when bees should have been flying and were not, it was a drippy moldy cavern. The top bar hive did quite well through the summer of 2017 during which time there were several swarming episodes, due in part to an aging queen which I opted to let the hive handle, and also I think/wonder to an unhygienic environment because I had not switched out the brood comb since the beginning. My thought was bees stay in tree hives for decades (as witnessed by friends in Monmouth Oregon) and the bees know what to do. However, the bees remaining were inadequate in number to sustain the warmth needed during the winter of 2016-17. There was plentiful honey stores remaining which I harvested during spring when I opened the top bar hive and found very few dead bees. Hopefully those swarms were successful and had thriving hives. My primary intention as a backyard beekeeper is to support bees in their propagation and pollination efforts; honey I can purchase. Recognizing that I had travel plans for spring 2017, I opted to remain hive-less and only decided now to acquire a new set and establish another backyard hive.

And so the 2019 story begins! Early this morning I drove to Redmond, OR to meet Matt of Apricot Apiaries in Kimberly, Oregon to pick up the package. Quite cool, in the 40's and the bees were cold from their early morning drive so hiving waited until they have recovered and the day warms. Warmer temperature, overcast and no wind so bees moved into hive, feeder filled, hive closed. Will check feeder (1:1 organic cane sugar and pure H2O from Avion Water here in Bend) each day to determine use and need to refill; will remove queen cage after 3-4 days; will do detailed hive check at about 10 days...stay tuned!

I've switched to a Langstroth hive this year, complete with an inside easy to handle feeding system courtesy of a friend from Independence, OR who was a commercial beekeeper in days gone by. Here come the photos!