Tag: hive inspection

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The first sign

“Then the Lord said, “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second.”
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭4:8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

As a beekeeper, I am asked all the time about getting stung or being afraid to get stung. I always repeat the statement that my instructor at my first beekeeping class said. “If you are afraid to get stung, then you don’t need to be a beekeeper.” Being stung is part of the hobby or the profession.

I can tell you that every time I have been stung was because I did something wrong. Just like with most animals, bees will give you a first warning or sign. I even have a warning sign for all visitors just outside my bee fields.

Bees change the sounds they emit as a warning to their mood or level of comfort. That’s why a beekeeper has to stay calm and collective. He or she has to control movements and slow down. If a hive gets irritated, then it’s time to give them space and time to calm down. A common myth is that smoke calms bees. Smoke actually causes the bees to focus on other issues. They believe the hive is on fire and start hive fire duties — protecting the queen, the food supply, and the young.

As with things in our lives, God gives us warning signs, but most of us ignore the first sign, the Holy Bible. He has warned us of all the dangers we will face and how to handle them, but we ignore them and get ourselves into so much trouble. We ask for signs but ignore them; we beg for signs and ignore them. Why? Because we are so focused on what we want or what we think things should be that we ignore the simple first sign. We ask God why even though we know the answer.

I don’t ask a bee why it stung me. I know why immediately. It is simple, I did something wrong. It’s the same with other animals on the farm, why did a hen peck my hand? Because I was to close to her eggs or chicks. Why did a cow get between me and the calf? Because she is protecting her calf. These are first signs and on a farm you learn to read those signs.

In this world, signs are everywhere. We choose to ignore them whether they are our first or second sign, but in the end we pay a price for our choice of choosing to ignore them. So from us here at Serenity Acres, let’s start paying attention to these signs and have better lives.

Thank you for visiting and #welcome2serenity.

Life Tip: When you are around bees, don’t wear perfume or cologne, don’t wear dark colors, and don’t swipe or fan a bee away from you just walk away as calmly as you can.

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The Split

One of the chores at the farm is beehive inspection.

Hive inspection is done to determine the health and stability of the bee colony. We look for any warning signs such as hive beetles and wax moths. We check to make sure the queen is healthy and laying eggs, which leads into checking for royal cells.

A royal cell is the birth chamber of a new queen. A new queen is laid to produce a new colony or to replace the current queen, if she is old or unhealthy. The royal cell is also the sign of a future swarm. Since a colony can only have one queen, when the new queen hatches a swarm occurs splitting the colony into two colonies.

During a hive inspection and relocation this week, a royal cell was discovered. So while relocating the original hive, the royal cell was moved to a new hive, where it will hatch a new queen to produce a new colony of honey bees. Beekeepers split hives all through the spring to avoid swarming of hive.

Just like with our families, children grow and leave the colony to go forth and create a new colony. Although we are different from bees, there are a lot of similarities between the bees and us. Once a bee leaves, it doesn’t come back. Our children may leave but they often return home to visit and feel the family love.

The split is inevitable but it’s whether it’s a controlled or uncontrolled split that matters. Life changes, lives change, and the world continues according to plan. #welcome2serenity