6/29: Settling In - Bee Friends Farm

6/29: Settling In

Bee Friends Farm Admin

It's a brisk 60 degrees in Michigan and the bees are done traveling for a bit! 

Our first week in Michigan has been a calm and we've gotten a lot done. We prepared 6 bee yards by trimming the grass and setting up electric fences (Remember, there's bears in them woods!). We spread the 240 hives out into those 6 separate bee yards. Each colony has about 40,000 bees, which is a total of about 9.6 million bees!

 

Spreading out the hives into different apiary sites gives each hive ample space for their forages to wander and collect as much nectar as they like. Different sites also ensures that multiple different areas are being pollinated by all those busy bees.  

After they got settled in their new yards, the ladies took their time with their orientation flights. They enjoyed checking out their new home for the next few weeks. There are lots of new flowering plants in bloom they've never seen before!  

The bees have only been on the ground for a few days but the foragers are already starting to pull nectar and pollen! As they bring that nectar and colorful pollen into the hive they store it into the wax comb they've built onto the frames. They are filling up their boxes already, which is a great sign for the health of the bees. Maybe we'll even bring back some Michigan honey to Florida! 


Follow along with our bee's summer vacation all summer long with Michigan Monday posts on our Facebook and Instagram. 

Why did we send our bees to Michigan? Learn more here! 

Add a comment

* Comments must be approved before being displayed.