Debbie's Beekeeping Adventures!

Debbie is in her second year of beekeeping and last night she robbed her bees of their honey.  She has a few tips of what not to do when robbing your bees!

1. Make sure your smoker doesn't go out!  She has a very swollen hand from the bee sting she got while trying to relight her smoker!
2. Wear a bee suit and wear a long sleeve shirt and pants underneath the bee suit.
3. Don't hurry!
4. Wear boots and don't tuck your pants into your boots.  Rather, duct tape your pants to the outside of your boots.
5. Have everything you need ready to go before you start.

Debbie is trying to keep all-natural bees without using any chemicals.  She says she doesn't want to keep them if she has to use chemicals because she doesn't want that stuff in her honey.

Right now, she has a swarm of bees hanging out in a tree in her yard.  They've been there for three days.  She says if anyone wants to come get them, they are welcome to them.  She doesn't have another hive to put them in. 

Debbie says that it is "just magic" when you open the hive and look at them.  Listening to her talk about bees and remembering my childhood when my dad kept bees has made me want to get into bees myself.  Maybe after I get the goats figured out!!