So the other day I got to have my first bee experience.  Kelley has jumped into this endeavor with both feet and has been telling me all about what he's doing, but I've never had a chance to actually see it for myself. 

Tommy was ready to move all of the hives to a new location (they have been at this Professors house (who has been helping them learn about bee keeping)

Kelley told him about the beautiful backyard of this little old house they just bought, and they decided that would be a good place to keep them for a little while. 

KC and I went over there together, Kelley had helped Tommy bring the bees and their hives there in the trailer. 

As soon as we got there, Kelley gave me a bee suit. KC had one on that we had at home.  KC has not really wanted to have anything to do with the bees (he is a little bit afraid...no, more like terrified of the bees) but with the bee suit on (and duct taped securely around all openings!) he said he would go there with me.  I felt pretty safe in the bee suit....I'm not sure why, but bees don't really scare me.(coming from a girl that hasn't been stung yet...Kelley has had some  bad encounters with them and been stung several times...one actually got up in the hood part of the bee suit and stung him on the face.  The only time I have been stung is when I stepped on one out in the backyard when I was about 12.  I think mostly, they won't bother you if you don't bother them.  I've learned a lot about bees in the last little while though, and one of the things I learned is that if you mess with the queen, the other bees will attack you.  Also, if one stings you, the fermion released in the sting will attract all the other bees and they will want to sting you too. 

Bees are so  incredibly smart...it really is mind blowing to learn about how they live, protect the queen, and communicate with each other.  And the ability to make honey ( this perfect food) from pollen?  This is another one of those times when I stand totally amazed at the God that created this incredible world. 

 t was really cool to watch how they create a hive.  These bees were transported from California this time (not such a good experience hauling them yourselves)  and came in these small boxes with a can inside.  The can had some sugary substance inside to feed the bees in the box..The queen bee was in a separate little box.  They would spray the box of bees down with sugar water to take their attention away from wanting to sting them, then they take out the can and the queen bee.  They take the little cork out of the side of the queen box and replace it with a marshmallow.  I guess the other bees are supposed to eat through the marshmallow to release the queen.  Then they put the queen into the big beehive box and dump all the rest of the bees in the box too.  Then they put these slats into the hive that the bees make honey on and the lid goes on top. 

It was funny in this last video, Kelley was holding the queen bee box and showing us how they had already started making some honeycomb...he separated the honeycomb off and handed the queen bee to KC.  At this point the bees were buzzing all around him...I think it freaked him out a little bit. when he realized he was holding it!