With all this newfound confidence, I've decided to start a second hive, and do all natural beekeeping. That is, foundationless frames, bottom screens, and just a little thymol and honey-b-healthy on the day they arrive. Just to get rid of any old varroa mites that may have hitched a ride.
Not that there aren't other hives within two miles of me, probably teeming with mites, but I am determined to let weak colonies die out and build up stronger ones. Survival of the fittest. As my boyfriend is a geneticist with the USEPA, and I am an organic gardener, natural beekeeping is a no-brainer.
That is, if I can keep either colony alive for this first year.
So I ordered another package, glued popsickle sticks into the frames, set up another hive down in our valley, and leveled the hive. Not as convenient as the first hive, but I'm already starting to see problems with the placement of that hive.
The valley isn't ideal, as it's not accessible by vehicle, unless you count Mark's tractor. Mark would rather you didn't as he's hoping I'll buy a gator. These bees could get expensive real quick.
The new package arrives and I install it oh-so-successfully, at least, compared to my last installation this one goes swimmingly. Then I put in the sugar water. 50/50 by volume I believe, though no site is all that clear. I just use my measuring cups, e.g. 8 cups of water to 8 cups of sugar. Very easy, just boil the water, add the sugar and stir about 1-2 minutes until dissolved. As a hummingbird feeder extraordinaire, no problem. I can easily tell when the sugar is dissolved, even with my forty-something eyes. I am careful to keep stirring though; one of these days the phone will ring and I'll have burned carmel or something.
So anyhoo, here I am in the valley having installed my bees and their sugar water feeder, and I turn around for one last look...and notice that the sugar water is draining out the front of the hive. All that and my bottle leaked. More disturbingly, it's abundantly clear that my brand new, all natural hive is not level. The sugar water is leaking out the bottom board at an angle. It was level yesterday. Sigh. So I decide that I need to do more than just prop it up on two bricks, I need four bricks and at least two 2/6/8 boards. That'll be harder to level but easier to keep level, right?
But then a number of problems develop before I can get back to this hive:
PROBLEM #1: I have to buy the boards and bricks, then I have to get Mark to bring the bricks down in the tractor. I have to carry the boards down myself, on a steep trail.
PROBLEM #2: I am sick. Not too bad, except I've been studiously ignoring my mild vertigo for a month and haven't been to the doctor, and now I also have a cold and a sinus infection. Oh and I don't have a regular doctor. But heck, I really haven't been sick enough to get one in the four years I've lived here.
PROBLEM #3: I can't get out of my chair. I found a doctor, the only one that would take me on short notice. Being sick and all, I didn't ask enough questions. Next thing you know, I'm wasted on medication that just treats the symptoms, and honestly, I'm feel worse from the drugs than the cold.
PROBLEM #4: It's stormy and humid and hot, bad bee handling weather.
So I don't get back to my hive for ten days. My dad was a bomber pilot in three wars and an instructor pilot. I am soon to be reminded of what he told his guys (and me) over and over, "It's not the first emergency that kills you, it's the fourth or fifth."
Why oh why can't I follow the same recipe twice?
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