“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”
Yeah for the bees and grape vies! My crape myrtle is showing life too – shows you should never write something off too quickly.
My friend was round the other day and said all her bees were gone! This is her first time at keeping bees and got them last summer. I asked if there were any dead in the hive and she said only a few the rest had left. So I don’t know if the Queen died or decided she didn’t like her palace and moved out. She is going to try again, must tell her about the Russian Queen and her Italian subjects!
Just come in to cool off from turning the ground over ready to plant my tomatoes and cucumbers. It is hot and humid and feels like July rather than May – in the 90’s past couple of days and very humid. Heavy rain due Thursday and then a cold front so back to 70 and low 40’s at night. Wish the weather would make up it’s mind, my plants are confused!!
Hugs, Lyn
I’m so glad you’re seeing more grape vine life. The little life we saw on Saturday was encouraging and I left thinking a good rainfall would really cause them to begin growing again.
And now you have the bees to help out on the farmy!
A bonzer bee bonanza – Now I’m humming Ra Ra Rasputin, lover of the Russian Queen….. Wishing them a long and productive life at the Farmy. Oh, and vigour for the vines, too!
So cool. I learn so much from your lovely blog. I wish your new bees well.
How wonderful – fingers crossed for a happy and healthy hive!
I am so excited for you and your bees. I just watched a 3 hour DVD on beekeeping and they had mail order bees, too. How many hives do you have? How much honey did you get last year? The state with the most Apiaries is North Dakota, of all cold places. Now you can make beeswax candles, too. Nothing blooming here yet. So relieved about your grapes, too.
I’m jealous of your bees. I would so love to have a hive in our backyard and do my part toward saving them. (There’s a local company here in Portland putting hives in neighborhoods, including the roofs of hotels and grocery stores.) But, alas, my husband is a bit freaked out by it. So I shall live vicariously through you and your bees!
my grapes have burst forth too. i am thinking of training grapes on a pergola on the side of my house. are there any downsides you can think of?
Grapes need to be pruned every year, so as long as you can reach them to pick and prune them so they don’t grow OVER the house I think that is a lovely idea, i especially love the leaves too, they just Look refreshing and cool.. Is that instead of the dead wisteria? c
it’s instead of the dead roses. the “dead” wisteria put out 3 feet of new growth in 2 days. it’s back!!!! gulp!
Our neighbor in Germany had his south facing side of his house covered with grapes. She pruned them with a ladder and I loved eating the small dark grapes. I still buy them today when I see them. It looked enchanting.
can’t keep a good wisteria down aye!! 3 feet.. yikes! c
how wonderful, and i am very thankful for the bees in this world.
Cinders, that is beeutiful news about the Russian queen and her Italian subjects! 🙂 I wonder if they’ve each learned each other’s language? Of course, they have…they’re bees!! I think we need to have a vote in to name our new Queen. My vote is beautiful Queen Tatiana!
This is fascinating! I hope they all do well and give you lots of delicious honey. 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing your process. I could connect to so much of it. I like the idea of writing during a big rain storm. I wonder if the negative ions in the air helped?
Energised me!! probably.. certainly clears the air.. c
Did you know that beeswax candles give off negative ions when burned?
I made some last year too though I keep them for special occassions, the fragrance is divine.. c
I have to buy my beeswax from a small apiary in Illinois, probably near you, on Etsy. I burn beeswax candles, especially tea lights, every day. It helps my asthma and breathing in general.
hmm, I must tell my daughter that, she get asthma as well.. thank you G
They look wonderfully active!
And so the seasons turn, and all seems right. Bees are buzzing, leaves are unfurling, flowers blooming. Sigh. It seems at last your winter has loosened its grip. Now I also feel like eating toast with honey… it’s too early for a glass of wine.
Long live the Queen! and her subjects. I read quite a few US blogs, people with small farms using sustainable practices, and I think they all lost their bees in the nasty winter you had. Buut hi-ho, summer is coming and they’ll have a wonderful time. Today I’m off to join a blockade a couple of hours from where I live to protest coal seam gas mining in a richly productive dairying and farming area, and to (maybe) stand in the road when the drilling rig comes rolling along. Please send cake if the riot squad nabs me and I end up in jail. I have a story and links on my blog about the new town that has sprung up on a supportive farmer’s land, 2,000 strong, to stop this merciless tide of big industry greed, if anyone’s interested.
You brave girl! Yes i shall send a cake should you end up in the Clink. If you would like me to bake a saw into the cake just send me a message with the code word Saw in it. They will never work it out. We will bring the horses to spirit you away! Greed is a horrible thing to watch. I hope you can stop them.
Oh Nanette, good on you! Wish I could – feel so very strongly about this! And if you end up in the pokey: we’ll cheer!!!!!!
What! no cake Eha? I didn’t end up in the clink but I had a wonderful day, what a great thing they…..we……are doing out there. I will put pics and wrods if I can string them together on my blog. Hey, and thanks for the support guys,
ah there you are, i was wondering.. make sure to drop a link to your discussion about the day into the comments next time you pop in so that we can spread the word! c