Awakening

I had the urge to go back in the studio a few weeks ago and to make a three-dimensional character. He grew and developed his personality as I worked. Considering the time of year and the material I used, I decided to call him Awakening. He was fun to make and I do like him.

Beehive frames

I painted the hives. It does not matter what color is used (as long as it is light so that it does not absorb too much heat and makes it more work for the bees to keep the hive at the right temperature). Many light colors make me "unwell", so since the bees don't care, I might as well choose a color that pleases me...and I chose a light peach color. It is not quite as pink as it looks on the picture below!

I also checked out how the frames get nailed. It takes 2 nails at each corners, then 3 more to hold the wax panel (see below). So, that is 11 nails per frame, 10 frames in each box (and right now I have 2 boxes per hive) so that makes.... a lot of little nails!

Once the frame is nailed together, the bottom little slat is sliced off.

Then the sheet of wax reinforced with wire needs to be inserted in the frame. I have kept them inside so they would not be too cold and brittle to handle them. The shape of the cells is imprinted on the wax, which makes it easier for the bees to build the comb. It also makes it possible to remove the frames and harvest the honey without having to destroy the wax.

The top of the wax sheet slides in the bottom of the frame. The end of the wires is bend (bottom) and will be held in place by the little slat that was removed earlier.

The slat is nailed with 3 little nails. There is not much room and I was afraid to break the wax... I think I might have more than one bent nail like the one on the right!

Once the frame is ready, it hangs in the box.

So now, I only have 39 more frames to put together!

Building the hives

Today was the day I put my beehives together. I bought all the pieces (above) and I just had to put them together. It is quite a clever system; fits together easily. The nail holes are even already drilled!
The outer and inner covers as well as the bottom board are already assembled.

I was a bit afraid that I would put together things that do not belong together so I was very careful to leave everything in little piles as they came. Actually, I saw after a while that it would be difficult to mix things up because of the size. The parts on the picture above are only for 1 hive.

I started with the bottom box, which is the tallest and where the queen lays eggs and the colony grows. I started nailing the pieces when I suddenly realized that it would be quite easy to nail the whole thing....crooked! So I got a square and made sure!

That is the bottom box (which is called brood box. Got to show off my new vocabulary!) and the inner lid. That lid actually does not go there, I just wanted to see how it looked.

On top of the brood box is another box, which is less tall but is assembled exactly in the same way. This is called a super and that is where the bees store their honey. The honey in the first super is not harvested (hum, does one say harvested for honey? I guess I will have to check but you know what I mean). It is left for the bees to feed on in the winter. As they produce more honey, more supers are added and honey from the upper supers is what we take.

I am afraid that putting the hive body together was actually the easy part and I have the nagging feeling that the frames are going to be another story. Above are the pieces for the frames (10 per box). Frames hang in the brood box and supers and this is where the bees build their combs, lay their eggs and store their honey.

I put one together and I think it is right (I don't see how else it could go together). However, I cannot remember where those things get nailed (and that will be the tricky part!) There is a sheet of wax that goes in each frame after they are put together but that will be for the next episode! Let's get those frames put together first!

What puzzles me are those 2 little nail holes on the side on the side of the frame. I can't figure out what they are for. I can't see anything that goes there. So before I mess up the whole batch, I am going to go ask!

But at least, I have the hive bodies put together. Yessss!

New adventure

It has been weeks since I wrote anything and months since I have really done creative work in the studio. Call it burn out or re-prioritizing my time and activities? Slowly though, the creative urge is coming back and the class I took the other week at the Campbell school with Dan Essig definitely contributed to get me fired up again.

But even if I go back in the studio, it will not be with the same extreme focus and obsession as before. During these past few months, I have taken the time to do other things I really enjoy and had not done in years, for example work in my garden. I got 3 little chicks in June and my son David built me a wonderful chicken coop. So now, not only do I enjoy fresh eggs every day, but I am having a blast watching those little hens. Who would have thought!

They were too chicken (ha ha ha) to get out in the snow!

But my new adventure is something else. John, my husband, and I had talked about it years ago, but lack of time and funds pushed the idea back. Then recently a couple of my friends got...bees and I decided that this year would be the year for me too! So I thought I would share that adventure here.

All through the winter, I read about bees and beekeeping and realized how ignorant I was. I also got really fascinated with the whole thing. Finally, yesterday, I picked up the parts to build my hives and got a smoker. I will get the rest of the equipment when the bees come.

Apparently, that a smoker is one of the most important tools in beekeeping. Until yesterday, I had only seen pictures, but did not really have any idea of how get it going and why it helped handling the bees.

Here is what it looks like.

I just found out that the reason beekeepers smoke the bees before handling the hive is because the bees think smoke means fire, fire means that they might have to leave the hive and so they gorge on honey in case they have to go...which makes them a bit more mellow and takes their minds of the beekeeper's presence.

But there is smoke and smoke! The smoke must be thick but yet cannot be too hot or it will singe the bees wings and it has to last long enough to do whatever needs to be done in the hive. The gentleman I got the material from is also teaching a class at our local extension office. He is quite an experienced beekeeper and is very knowledgeable. His advice: practice with the smoker way ahead of the time of getting the bees (which will be around mid-April). So guess what I just? I tried the smoker. I managed to light a fire with packed dry leaves and put some wet leaves on top to cool the fire and make more smoke. It took a few tries but that worked....however, if I had been doing something with the hive, I would have been in trouble because my fire ran out way too soon!

Guess I will have to practice some more!