Today was the first day in probably years that I had put one of Michael’s bee veils on! He even had a sleek pair of new white gloves for me. I followed him up the hill to the hives and simply learned how to remove frames carefully, reinforce hives with bees, spot the queen, avoid making bee smoothies underneath boxes, and enjoy hot, sunny weather! Looking forward to learning more in the days following.

We also made up a batch of syrup for the bees and fed it to them. I am amazed at the way Michael has many things down to a science, making the process simple and even fun.

To top the day off, a customer came with his wife and bought 2 hives from Michael. It was so neat to be there with him and watch them drive off with two of his hives in the back of their truck, just waiting to opened up, unleashing thousands of bees to take to the sky and gather the abundant nectar supply from flowers in yet another part of West Virginia.

It was a hap-bee day, typical of a normal day for Michael.