Last summer I went on a small farms tour in our county and was totally captivated by a wonderfully detailed demonstration of beekeeping. I had never seen working hives up close and personal, and I found the bees to be absolutely amazing. When the beekeeper mentioned that beekeeping is a good hobby for busy people because the bees only need attention every few weeks, I was sold.
In December I went to a beginning beekeeping class and earlier this month I ordered my equipment. I ordered the hive bodies and supers unassembled because I thought it would be fun to have some "hands-on" work before the bees arrived. I have a strange idea of fun!
Here you can see two of the hive bodies and one of the supers already assembled, and the last super still in four pieces.
The hardest part of the job was getting the dovetails to fit together snugly. The fit is quite tight, so it took a little bit of muscle to get them to the right spot. I call my muscle "Hugh". He quite graciously gave me a hand when needed.
A closer look at a finished hive body:
I hung one of the hive frames in here just to give the idea. When the hive is all assembled, there will be eight of the frames inside.
Next week's job will be to paint them. I haven't decided if I want to do the traditional white or if I will be more artistic.
Decisions, decisions!
But the adventure has begun.
