The first year of beekeeping was somewhat of a rollercoaster.


In the spring of 2018, Hive 1 thrived like crazy while Hive 2 lagged behind.  As summer rolled around, Hive 1 waned and Hive 2 was busy as a...well, busy as a bee.  Hive 2 produced a lot of honey that season and the hive was extremely active.

HIVE 1

My mistake here was a really didn't check for the queen like I should have. To be honest, I had a hard time finding her.  I hope to improve that skill. It was also difficult to check for eggs in the hive, which is another way to check for an active queen. Maybe she died. Maybe she left. Maybe she was just a bad queen.


As the season wore on, I did a routine hive check, and there was some strange spider-webby, tunneling material in the honey comb. I poked into the webbing and larvae came out. So that was nasty.  I had done some research, and discovered that a weak hive could not fight off wax moths. Eventually, the hive would just die. It was already late summer and not much time to rebuild a hive. I was resigned to letting the colony die off and starting fresh the next spring.


But I'm not a quitter. Dang it. I wasn't going to give up without a fight.


I got a Nuc with five frames of bees and a strong queen. I hesitated to just add the new bees fearing the old bees might try to defend their hive. I really didn't want a massacre of the bees happening in the hive--sort of a Halfields versus McCoys scenario. A well seasoned beekeeper informed me that the hive would likely be desperate for a strong queen and I could add the nuc frames with no preparation. Otherwise, I would have to use a technique involving newspaper between the two colonies to initially separate them until they acclimated to each other (How to combine two beehives).


The nuc arrived and the bees were immediately at home. There was no fighting. The hive grew stronger and stronger. My hive thrived again.


During the nuc addition procedure, the frames with the wax moths were removed and new frames put in their place.

2/6/19              HIVE 1  and  HIVE 2

Hive check.
Clear weather, ~ 35 degrees F, no wind
Exterior check only. Dormant exterior, no activity.

2/13/19             HIVE 1

Hive check.
~40 degrees F, clear day, no wind.
Hive 1 did fine over the winter. The girls looked good. They were mad, though. At this part of the season, bees are fiercely protective of resources. Even though I wore a full beekeeping suit, I still managed to get stung three times.

EARLY MARCH 2019     HIVE 1

Cursory hive check.
Clear weather. No wind. Mild temperature.
The hive continues to thrive.

EARLY MARCH 2019     HIVE 2

I checked my coworkers hive. I normally wouldn't have done that, because he loves playing with the bees and I thought he would be the one to delve into the hive first. However, I noticed that the entrance to Hive 1 was abuzz (haha), but Hive 2 had no activity.

Hive 2 was so strong going into winter, but I had a terrible feeling that the colony didn't make it through the season. I dreaded opening the hive, because I just knew it was a goner. Sure enough, I took off the lid and there were no live bees found. Just a few dead ones in the top super (box). I cracked open the bottom box just a little bit and there was no sign of life.

I was sad.  My coworker loves beekeeping so much. I had to deliver the bad news. He took it better than I thought.

We decided the next step was to open the hive up to investigate the cause of hive death.

As a newbie beekeeper, I am still trying to find my way in this sweet, sticky world of bees and honey. It all began when a coworker wanted a hive, followed by my offer to allow the hive in my yard.


Easy peasy, right?


In an attempt to understand what I'd gotten myself into, I reached out to a sweetheart of a guy who owns Hays Honey and Apple Farm, Mr. Hays. His enthusiasm was infectious, and one thing led to another... I wound up purchasing beekeeping equipment for myself, as well. Then came ordering bees and planting pollinator plants. Okay, this was getting rather involved. And there was one small problem. I know nothing about bees. Oh, snap.


Thank goodness for YouTube. You can learn anything there. And I must admit, I learned a few things I could have done without. For example, How to make homemade squishies! Not necessary for me personally.


I soon signed up for a two year beekeeping certification course through New Mexico Beekeepers Association (NMBKA).  I completed the first level over the last year and am about to embark on the second year journey.


Last year, my yard had two hives. Mine, and my coworkers.


To track hives and their progress, I guess I'll name them: Hive 1 and Hive 2.

This is a pic of my first mistake. Hive 1 is facing west. Hives are supposed to face South or East. This was an easy fix. 

Hive 1 is in the background and is facing south now.  Hive 2 is front and center. Notice the topnotch paint job I did with stencils. You may begin mocking me now, it's ok. 

In the picture you can see fencing, which most people would use as a dog run. I use it to keep the dogs out. I don't want the pups getting stung; however, when I've left the gate door open, they didn't go near the hives. The bees probably already had a meeting of the minds with the dogs. 

This style of hives is called Langstroth. If you've seen bee hives in the past, they probably looked like this. They're wood, box shaped, and easy to stack.


We used Langstroth for the first year. As we prepared for winter, we changed over to Apimaye Hives. They are plastic and well insulated. This was my coworkers idea, and it sounded fine with me. I'll upload pictures of those soon.


This blog is designed to document beekeeping experiences along the way. Hopefully things go a little smoother than the first year. But I'll get into that a little bit...