A BUSY BEE WEEKEND.

This past Sunday, Jesse and I suddenly realized that if we were going to move our beehives to Bugtussle - we had to do it NOW.  As in....on Monday.  The weather seemed right, and I wanted to make sure they had some forage available in their new home before the winter set in. We scrambled to prepare, buying some ratchet ties and duct tape and other such securing devices, and we went to work. I spent all day Sunday working in the hives, removing the top super, harvesting the honey, and closing off the top entrance of the hivewith some fine wire mesh.I wasn't planning on harvesting any honey this year. I wanted to make sure these ladies had plenty of food stored away for their first winter.  But. They hadn't been all that productive in the latest supers that I added. One extra, kind of empty box on the hives = just more space for them to have to heat throughout the winter. PLUS - one extra level on the hives just made them that much more difficult to move. So, a honey harvest we had! It was a small amount, all in all, probably a half gallon all together. BUT IT IS SO MAGICAL! Cutting into the comb and watching the delicious golden honey pour out into the jar below, I fell in love with bees all over again.After the harvest, on Sunday night, I closed up the hives (by plugging the entrance with a t-shirt - very fancy) and Jesse helped me load them into the truck.  We secured them as best we could, and we headed out on the 3 hour journey to Bugtussle at 5 AM the next morning.To make a long story short, it didn't go great. The bees escaped during the drive. It was pouring down rain at the moment we decided to unload the hives. I got stung in the butt. STILL - it could have been so much worse. After we placed the hives in their new home, the sun came out and we watched them take some orientation flights, getting their bearings and seeing Bugtussle for the first time. It makes me excited for our move very soon - when we can know, after a very stressful year, that we are DONE - we are in our FOREVER HOME and that our new life is just beginning.- Hannah.