Last week was intensive in terms of how much work we did with bees. We had to make sure all the bees were fed- and let me tell you there are a lot of bees.
Let me give you the highlights:
Kwao and Agape have an apiary located up in the hills and these bees on the whole, are doing quite well. There was an abundant amount of honey to be harvested. We put two of the weaker hives that were located at the home apiary here in hope that they will strengthen. Also at this apiary, we caught a swarm! They were nestled up in a small tree. Ann and I held the hive and Kwao shook the bees in. I was expecting to get stung and I wasn't sure how the bees would react to such displacement. But apparently, bees don't feel inclinced to sting when they're swarming. They are just looking for a home. Once in the box, they lifted their butts in the air and began fanning a pheromone letting other members of the colony know that the queen was in the new hive. Bee communication is truly fascinating.
Swarm bees fanning pheromone
Posing with newly caught swarm
There is also another apiary located even farther from the home. Here the bees were pretty testy. They also appeared to be in a robbing mood which meant angry bees flying everywhere. One of the Langstroth hives had frames that were spaced too far apart. This led to what is called cross-combing within the hive. The bees had built the comb perpendicularly to the other combs. There was also another robbed out hive- this one riddled with wax moths and cockroaches.
Yesterday, we made soap! It was scented with orange essential oil. I didn't realize how easy- and potentially dangerous making soap was. You put lye in the soap which could easily melt the flesh off of your body in order to produce a reaction that actually cooks the soap. There's my very detailed explanation of the science behind soap making. You have to mix the combination of lye, fat, and essential oil until a thick consistency is reached.
Me blissfully mixing the soap
This is another potential source of revenue from beekeeping. Agape often uses honey in the soap. Mmmmm sounds so luxurious. Agape is also planning to sell the soap through the local Seventh Day Adventist Church. Apparently the church has 200,000 members- so if each member buys just one bar, that's a whole lot of moola! Another example of the great community outreach the farm does.
There's a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks. Today, we went to the lumber yard to collect wood for our first hives. Can't wait to start building. We're also going to try to see more of the island. Yesterday was the first time we really left the yard. We went on a hike to a stunning seaside cliff.
Woohoo! Feeling good!
Hopefully more adventures to come!
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