Our first hive get

So, funny story about our first two hives.  We bought them as nucs (nucleus hives) from one of the other members of the local beekeeping association.  He was really cool about it, and built the nucs right in our own boxes - so we would not even have to move the frames to install them, just bring them home and open up the doors!

Due to scheduling, Mark went to get the hives early in the morning.  Since the best time to let out new bees is evening, we placed the closed up hives in the shade and waited.  They were full of angry bees that wanted OUT OUT OUT!  But we were patient.  So patient.  Finally the time came to put them on their new stands and take off the travel screens to free the bees.  We put the hives on the stands and went to put feeders on top of the hives.  Which of course leaked all over the place because we were noobs.  So we decided to just take the screens off, release the bees, and place feeders later.  We took off the first screen.

And then we realized that we had not lit the smoker.

Several very awkward minutes of being chased by newly freed bees later, both hives were open and the bees (still very angry) were able to do some orienting flights and clean up some of the spilled syrup.  And that's how we learned to never again approach a hive without a lit and smoking smoker.

Tips for new beekeepers

1. Even if you are just going to refill the feeders, bring the hive tool.  You never know when you'll find a bit burr comb that needs scraping off, or what the bees will have glued together next.
2. Give the smoker a little puff every couple minutes to make sure it is still burning in there.  They can go out with just the air flow from the spout.  Or just for no reason at all.  You want to make sure that's smoking before you open the brood box.
3. If you turn the smoker sideways, unless you are holding on to the lid, it will pop open.  You have been warned!
4. Sometimes even a happy, well-mated, healthy queen will lay two eggs in a cell.  I theorize she does this to cause me anxiety, in revenge for digging through her hive.
5. Sometimes bees make a hot mess.  Even on foundation.  When you clean this out it will make them very angry.  Try to catch them early.
6. The moment you say "don't worry I stand there and watch them all the time, and they  never sting me," somebody will get stung.  Or at least have a bee crash into their face and make them think they were stung.
7. Grass can and will grow through your screened bottom board and out the entrance of the hive.  This is not fun to clear out.  Don't skimp on the landscaping cloth under your hives.

All together bees are really fun and rewarding, even before you harvest your first frames of delicious, delicious honey.  They are not however as easy as beekeeping websites make them out to be, if only because every time a newbee starts a new hive, they (like us) will find new and exciting ways to derp it up.  Fun!