Honeybees and Trees. May 6, 2016

Last night I was able to bring home four more nucs and get them settled in.  Thank goodness for a few days of warmer temperatures and sunshine!  As if just for the honeybees arrival,  my Crab Apple tree and Red Bud welcomed the bees with blooms bursting forth everywhere today.  You could stand under or near the Crab Apple and hear their soothing buzzing and observe them gathering pollen and bringing it back to the hive.   The honeybees definitely preferred the Crab Apple over the Red Bud. There were only one or two honeybees on the Red Bud, but there were many native bees and bumblebees on the blooms.  I have no idea what the proper names are of any of the native bees or bumblebees, I will work on that!
Before keeping bees, I did not realize the importance of trees to the bees!  I have only begun scratching the surface of all the different types of trees, their bloom times and their nectar and pollen production for the bees.
If you want to plant trees for bees, contact Honeytree Nursery in Shelbyville, MI at honeytreenursery.com or email honeytreenursery@yahoo.com.  They are the experts in what trees you should plant for bees.

Honeybee on my Crab Apple tree

Crab Apple tree in full bloom, May 6, a welcome present to the Nucs I brought home last evening.

Honeybee on Crab Apple bloom.

My nucs, six now. First morning in their new home, settling in.

White Crab Apple I think??  The honeybees were all over these millions of blooms, but were too high up for me to get a good picture of one.  Way, way, way more blooms than a small planting of flowers could ever provide. Plant trees for bees!

An closer shot of the bloom from the tree above.

The only honeybee I saw on my Red Bud trees.

A native bee, unsure of the name, many of these were on the Red Bud

Big ole Bumble, I don't know the type, there were three of them on this Red Bud, often fighting with each other.

New Bee-ginnings, Michigan Honeybee Nucs, May 2, 2016

       It has been a while since my last post due to the fact there wasn't much to say as the remaining two hives I had in February, were both dead in March.  I found the queens in each and one even had eggs,  open larva, and capped brood.  They were giving it all they could, but there were too few bees to maintain the warmth they needed.
      Of course, I must begin again.  I knew I wanted nucs that had overwintered in MI.  Thanks to a wonderful  network of other beekeepers I was able to find MI bees that had successfully made it through the winter. These nucs have queens that were mated last July so I was able to receive them sooner than most MI nucs are available.  I brought the first two home last night.  I set them on top of the hive box that they will be going into and opened their entrances, giving them a chance to fly and orient to their new spot before installing them into the hive boxes. I can't wait to give them my extracted honey frames for them to lick clean and full frames of honey!

Incoming bees, the stick is there holding the entrance open on the nuc box. I set the nuc box on top of the hive box they will be going into, allowing them to orientate to their new spot.

Two nucs with bees adjusting to their new location.  After a day or so I will transfer the frames into the hive bodies.

Honeybees at entrance of the nuc.  The stick is there to prop up the opening. 

Red Bud starting to bloom. Other beekeepers have told me the bees do work the Red Bud.

NOT a honeybee, a native bee on the Red Bud bloom. I am not sure of the bees proper name.