Today I was privileged to spend about three hours with Mr. Floyd, my bee mentor. Mr. Floyd has been raising bees and making honey for over twenty years. He knows an astounding amount of info about bees.
First he told me I needed to know the basics of the hive itself. We examined frames, foundations, box bottoms, box tops, supers and braces. I learned of the “ultimate” box bottom which I will be purchasing for my bees. This alone was heaps of info to retain. Next we moved to the undertaking of donning our bee suits. This is what I’ve been waiting for!
Following are photos of the bees, their honey, and what the inside of a hive looks like. It was amazing to remove the top or roof of the hive and see all the bees buzzing around filling the frames with honey. I was unsure of how I would feel when the bees began to buzz all around but there was immense comfort hiding inside the bee suit. The little darlings buzz all around landing on the screen across your face and on your gloves, arms and head. I was not afraid nor jittery, which is fitting since I will be soon raising my own bees.
There is much to do to prepare for the arrival of my bees but I assure you I am happy to get everything set. There are so many bees in a hive I’m still trying to figure out how I’m going to name them all. March is the target month that I will actually receive my bees from Mr. Floyd. Stay tuned…
The Orange Bee 
How exciting! I’ll ask my beekeeper friend how she named all her bees 😉