Beekeeping

It’s spring, and spring can only mean one thing…honeybees! I got a call late on Tuesday night that our bees were ready for pickup. This meant a super quick trip on Wednesday to Winston-Salem to pick up our 3 packages of bees, then on to Hickory to deliver 1 package to Opa, and then finally back home this morning with our 2 packages of bees. The boys and I were tearing up the road, that’s for sure!

Last night we installed Opa’s bees in their hive. Isaac was all too ready to help. He got suited up and on the way out the back door announced “we are beekeepers!” with an excitement much like you’d see in a superhero cartoon. Isn’t he the cutest thing ever?

The beekeeping team…

Isaac was such a great helper too. The bees swarming around did not bother him at all. He asked questions and got right in the middle of things.

He and Opa with the Queen Bee.

Putting the bees in the hive body…

Isaac with the sugar water…

This afternoon when Jonathan & Kathryn got home from school, Isaac led them straight over to his packages of bees and told them all about them. It made me smile to hear him talk about them with such excitement.

Tonight, we installed the bees at our house and again, Isaac helped. Aunt Cindy, the bee charmer, came down to help too. (She really is a bee charmer…she wears no suit and just stands there and while the bees land on her, they never sting. It’s amazing because I’ve seen them sting Brian 100 yards from the hive. He is NOT a bee charmer.) Isaac walked Aunt Cindy through EVERY detail of what we were doing and what we were going to do. He really listened last night and took it all in. It was amazing to hear him explain it to her tonight. I’m so glad that I could share this hobby with him. We’re going to have so much fun learning together!