“The Bees have arrived” she called. The Postmistress had received a delivery of bees. 
She has me on speed dial due to my tendency to receive unusual mail. So off I went to collect them. I left the dogs home this one time.
Our new Russian Queen and her attendants circled in their little box sat inside a bigger box of lively buzzing Italians. She has been mated with Russian drones so all her progeny will be Russian. A Queen only flies with the drones once in her life, the mating will produce enough eggs for a lifetime. She is dark and a little smaller than the Italian worker bees that have come with her but very well marked with a big white dot on her back. And vigorous, they are all very vigorous. 
I was going to take a photo of the installation for you but this time the bees all came heaving out of the box the moment I removed the lid. There was a tiny hole between their can of syrup and the Queen’s box and out they came, so I sped up the process a little.
This time, after I had opened up the box, instead of dumping the bees out all in a rush, I turned the box upside down and secured it into the hive so they could come out in a more stress free manner. You will remember that the last time I installed a package of bees they would not come out of the box at all, and took so long to get organised that a good number of them died that night in the cold. This time the bees are much more active.
Tomorrow I will take the travelling box out of the super (before they fill it with comb) and replace the frames I had to remove to fit the box in, then leave them for three or four days to settle in before I check to see if they have released their Russian Queen. It usually takes them a few days to get her out and hopefully by then they are all under her spell.
Other than that I worked on an outside pen for Red pig so he can be right next door to the other two plonkers when they go to live outside and of course I weeded the required three buckets of weeds for them to eat, after the rain the weeds are so easy to pull and look at this! You were right!
There are shoots coming on the grapevines! Wonderful. There is a lot of dead wood to prune out but I shall give them time to recover first. I have men working out here for the next few days building pergolas for the next two plantings of grapes this autumn. Now that I have finally worked out how to make wine I am going to up the ante. And the grapes will shade both the east and south sides of the house, cooling those rooms down even more. No air conditioning used here.
Good morning. The bees came just in time because we have blossoms on the young apple trees! I feel very positive about this hive.
I hope you all have a lovely day.
Your friend on the farmy
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
64 responses to “The Russian Queen”
How exciting! Though I do hope the Queen doesn’t decide to annex the farm for Russia 😉
*gasp* Am I the first comment? Unheard of! Just came from the hospital. Nothing to report yet. I’m happy to see your bees. Doesn’t apple blossom honey sound wonderful?
Op! Mad Dog beat me to it. 🙂
You must have both been reading at the same time!.. morning!.. c
Wow that is a lot of bees! Yay for the burgeoning vines 🙂 Laura
Oh my, the farmy is buzzing with activity. And, yes, our grapevine was slow this year also. Mine is slightly ahead of yours but then we didn’t have your horrid winter. Lovely to see all the bees have arrived. I must ask: Do you get stung ever?
I got stung once when I stood on one barefoot in the grass while gardening, otherwise it is all about calm, determined movements, good sense and good gloves.
And one of those big netted bee hats?
ah yes, the hat is essential .. I have a new one actually so i am all kitted out this summer.. c
I hope that your John will take a photo of that. Please. 😉
I really look like someone from out of space!
… and this year, Celi will have honey for her toast, and wine to toast a successful day. Good to see the vines were strong enough to withstand that shocking winter. And I hope Her Majesty settles in quickly.
At least half of the vines are showing signs of life.. such a relief, though there will be some very hard pruning back to the strongest buds.. c
Good luck with your bees! Is there any likelihood that the Italian worker bees will have a problem with the Russian queen because she is a different variety? Are the Russian/Italian bees more resistant to the colony collapse disorder that’s been such a problem with honeybees over the last few years? What is their temperament? It all sounds fascinating to me!
Nancy
http://www.workingmomadventures.com
They are more resistant to mites because they are cleaner, of course nothing is resistant to the pesticide build up which is what is causing the collapses and disappearances. Also they get up later in the spring so will be less prone t freezing to death. much hardier.. c
Does working with the bees make you at all nervous?
nope.. Though I am careful to have thought through all my moves before I begin. Being ultra prepared is one of the keys I think.. c
Good planning! I would still be nervous though….
does Mr Putin know that you have his bees….do hope that they are happier than him, he always looks so miserable
So nice to return to the Farmy after a week away – I shall have to back-track when I get a minute t see what I’ve missed! Glad to be here to see the arrival of those long-awaited Russians. Hope all goes well this time around!
Christine
So wonderful to see these glimpses of spring. We’re slowly getting there up north here in Minnesota. The lilacs are not even blooming yet and temps could dip to freezing this week. But the grass is green and we are getting way too much rain.
Good morning Celi,
Where do you get all your energy with all those different projects? It is amazing just reading about it. Good luck with your bees and the grapes. I will have a toast with honey this morning and think of all the bees buzzing on your farm.
I am so hoping that this hive flourishes famously Celi! I have a feeling that it will! 🙂 xo
Oh happy day for the vines!! We noticed here too that many of the shrubs, trees and vines were late setting on when we endured a couple of very late freezes. Plants are beginning to show signs of life finally. I did lose some things, due to the drought and seemingly colder than usual winter for the south. We are getting some much-needed rain as well. Now if we can just keep those tornadoes and hailstones away! I really need to check into bee keeping. It seems fascinating to me… and oh, how I do love honey!
The Postmistress has you on speed dial–that is so cool. Glad to see your bees are revved, ready to go.
Oh they were a loud noisy bunch! Very active..very aggressive …very healthy looking and very few arrived dead..I’m hoping this group does better than her last. We will all get to watch the progress!
Yes, Connie, I hope these new bees do much better for Miss C.
Yay for bees! Yay for grapes! Yay for new pergolas! It all sounds great and perfect for the farmy. 🙂 Nice to have a disposal system for the dreaded weeds. I’m afraid to put them in the compost because of possible propagation, so just throw them out and it always seems like a waste.