Getting Started

In the summer of last year (2011), just missing the deadline to order new bees, J developed an intense interest in becoming a beekeeper. From that moment on, nearly all his free time was spent researching honey bees, listening to podcasts, watching videos and becoming as informed as possible. As an observer and supporter of this newfound hobby I have become the self-appointed documenter and photographer of the exciting new development I like to call Adventures in Beekeeping.

Unassembled Boxes

As an easy way to organize the information, document the findings from our hives, and post my pictures, I have created this blog.


Needless to say, the moment we could order bees this year, we did. On Wednesday January 11th we ordered bees from Roger Morash, a local beekeeper in Nova Scotia. These two nucs that we ordered were expected to be available for May 2012.

Owner of Country Fields near Moncton, NB

April 5, Easter weekend, we left for Moncton to pick up our supplies from Country Fields. On Saturday morning J got up early and decided to make some frames. 73 frames and two boxes and three swarm lures later...

Building Frames

We went and bought stain for the wooden boxes and J painted them all up.

Painted Bee Boxes

On April 15th J went to his first bee workshop and a bee crawled on his forehead! At that workshop the hive had no queen, which was good for him to see because it ended up happening to us later on.

A friend gave us one of his comb-drawn frames for one of our swarm lures.

Comb-drawn Frame

We got some lemon grass oil and gave a vile of it to our new friend, who was kind enough to give J one of his frames with honeycomb on it already to put into one of our swarm lures. 

Using Q-tips we put lemon grass oil into the lures to make them more appealing to the bees. 

Opening the Lure

On April 19th he got a 'soul crushing' email that Roger had more bee loss over the winter than he expected and we won't be getting the bees until June. 

Testing out the New Smoker

April 23rd: Beeeeee Fact - When a verroa mite hatches, it hangs on a bee for an average of 4-11 days. 

According to Wikipedia, when fictional character Sherlock Holmes retired, he moved to a farm and became a beekeeper! 

April 29th, we set up the swarm lures in Chester and in Lunenbug. 

Lure in Chester

Beeeee Fact: Bees huddle together in the hive all winter and come out only on warmer days to use the bathroom.


We set up the hives and reduced the entrances with sticks so the bees can defend themselves better.

Reducing the Entrance