Wednesday the power at work went out. While this may not affect most businesses, everything we do is based off the internet. Even the phone I answer.
So we shut down for the night.
So we shut down for the night.
Which was nice, because for once I was at home with my family on a week night.
And what better thing to do when you're home than check on the livestock?
My aunt and cousin bought two bee hives last year.
I don't know too much about them yet, but I do know that they don't sting you every chance they get like most people think. They're fairly calm, and a marvel to watch.
But, sadly, the hives from last year both died. We're not sure exactly what happened, but we're pretty sure it had a lot to do with the wet weather. My cousin was heart broken. And mad. Very mad. He cleaned the hives of what little honey they had created over the summer, and left their empty shells sitting in the yard.
Until about two weeks ago, when he and my aunt bought two more bee colonies.
So, since I was off work, Cam and I were able to go out with my cousin to check on the bees. Monday's storms knocked the hive tops off, disturbing the colonies. We thought we had lost our queen bee. Which is pretty serious. Apparently if the queen moves off or dies, the entire colony goes with her. So you need a queen to survive. And a replacement queen is expensive.
So off the hive top went, and out came the combs. Pretty neat, huh? All those little guys are taking pollen off our property to provide enough good stuff for our queen bee to live off of. And to produce the yummy thing we call honey.
I told you they were a marvel to watch.
And good news too! We found both the queens. One in each hive. So no more worries about buying an expensive replacement or losing these new hives.
All is right on Payne Family Farms.
We're just keeping on keeping on, busy as the bees.
