Favourite beekeeping memory???

[Stephenw]

Title says it all

 

[broandy]

Ive forgotten lol

 

[For want of a better word]

Watching my little ones do a bee dance.....
They are 4 and 8 !!!

 

[kazmcc]

When I watched a bee chew it's way out of the cell for the first time. We've only had them since July last year so don't have many memories to recount from but that was awesome. Also, watching for signs of life after the cold snaps as the weather turned. The hive was silent every time I went to watch. Then two staff members accompanied me one day and we watched for a while, with nothing happening. We gave up watcheing and started to discuss future plans and our voices must have stirred curiosity, because a couple of bees came out to see what we were talking about. I have never been so happy to see an insect in my entire life. That was a good one too

 

[Black Comb]

1st jar of my own honey.

 

[onriver]

yesterday was a good one - sun was shining, first snowdrops out, bees stretching their wings and a little cluster around one hive entrance, tugging at a stray bit of clingfilm the fondant had been wrapped in. It would have worked but they'd managed to push it through 2 holes in the mouseguard and were fighting each other - there would be a bee flying, desperately tugging at one end while another, equally determined, pulled at the other. Have to admit to watching for a good 5 minutes before stepping in to rescue them

 

[Queens59]

The first time I took my hive apart, did what was needed, and put it back together- and watched them calm down and relax...I knew then that at least I had mastered the basics...just all the other knowledge to get my head around now!

 

[thedeaddiplomat]

The day I transferred my first nuc into my first hive.

It all seemed to straightforward then!

 

[Rosti]

Very recent and on the face of it sad, but it wasn't.

My wifes sister unfortunately contracted terminal brain cancer last year. She was always interested in what the bees were doing and came up to see us late summer 2010. She was still mostly herself. We had a great afternoon with the bees, took photos for her kids memory box (they are 2 & 4). Her illness wasn't even on the radar, a mental pre-occupation with sting potential drives most things from the mind! She gained confidence quickly handled frames, found queens, looked at brood, nicked some honey and had a taste. She was buzzing (pun intended).

A couple of weeks later she went down hill quickly. My wife saw her in hospital, I did not, so I am blessed that my last memory of her as being a great afternoon with the bees.

 

[Finman]

.
I have forgotten it. Dem.., demmm, deeeem . Damn, i cannot remember.


.

 

[Drew]

<snip>I am blessed that my last memory of her as being a great afternoon with the bees.

Thanks for sharing Rosti -

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

Best memory from very limited experience, finding sealed brood from a queen they raised after an AS. Felt like a proud father.

Shame I may choose to replace her this year as they aren't the freindliest!

 

[Teemore]

The first time I helped inspect a really angry hive......
This was an occasion when we couldn't leave the hive and come back another day when they were calmer. The landowner had taken to parking his Landrover alongside the hive everyday so that he could watch them flying around. Unfortunately he left the engine running with the diesel fumes drifting around the hive; no doubt the bees really loved the fumes from a very tired old Landrover!
Why do I have fond memories of this experience? Well, I learned a few important things. I realised that angry bees didn't bother me at all and I'm not inclined to react unthinkingly and swat at angry bees. I was stung about 7 or 8 times (Was only wearing a smock and got stung through my trousers) and I realised that , that a bee sting isn't really painful and also that I don't experience an oversensitive reaction to bee stings. At the end of this i knew that the worst the bees could throw at me would not put me off trying to look after a few colonies of my own. I remain fascinated by bees.

 

[Otleybee]

Taking the first two frames of honey into the kitchen for scraping back and messy extraction.

 

[SkiBee]

Catching my first swarm in a garden. The excitement of getting lots of bees in the box only to discover Queeny was still in bush. Finally carrying them home wrapped in sheet just after dusk was lush.

 

[mignon]

Hearing a Queen piping one evening was pretty magical

 

[drstitson]

helping my neighbour collect the swarm that was to be my first colony.

only problem was it was >35 feet up!

two old ladders barely overlapping and lashed together with cord did the trick.

 

[Otleybee]

You are a very brave man climbing that Drstitson. Even braver descending it with a box full of bees.

 

[drstitson]

'fraid i'm no good with heights.

'dovico was the madman who went up.

i'll be repaying the favour this year with some queens to help restock after his horrible winter losses.

 

[Rosti]

i'll be repaying the favour this year with some queens to help restock after his horrible winter losses.

well if he went up that ladder for you and you feed him with queens for the next 10 years ....... I reckon you'd still have got the better deal!