The bees stayed!

Last night was fraught with worry as a new beekeeper. It was dark when I came home from work last night. My daughter told me that she approached the hive, five bees flew out to survey her, and she backed away. Then she told me the horrible news that she saw my bees fighting ants!

Worried,  I armed myself with my iPhone flashlight and marched out to the hive. Sure enough, carpenter ants were crawling in various spots. I marched inside, got out my peppermint oil, and swabbed around the entrance to the hive, near the sugar water, and on any ant that I saw. Got back inside, and suddenly realized I needed to make sure peppermint didn't hurt bees. Google informed me that it repelled them! I marched back outside with dish soap on a rag and scrubbed down my sleeping hive. Thankfully it rained and rained last night. 

Nevertheless, I tossed and turned, wondering if I'd just repelled my own bees from their new hive. This morning, in the pouring rain, not a bee. Were they awake? Had they swarmed? Was it the rain. I put my ear against the hive, opting not to lift the lid without a beekeeper hat or smoke or sugar spray. (Yes, I really did press my ear against my hive.) No buzzing. But was that normal?

When the rain reached a drizzling level, I finally saw two beautiful, wonderful bees make an appearance. Then I checked my garden and found all my squash flowers being romanced by worker bees!

Look at the zucchini growing, too!!

So, happily, an Amish beekeeper is going to allow me to work alongside of him as he checks his hives, gathers honey and cares for his bees. So, I will get better. In the meantime, I plan to learn what sort of essential oils are good for bees. I also need to find out what the natural predator for bee mites are. Maybe I want those ants.