A Very Special Delivery

This past Tuesday, we received a very special package in the mail! A new mated Queen bee! She arrived by US postal service overnight delivery! Check out the packaging! Love it!

We loss the Queen in our newest hive about 3 weeks ago. It happens from time to time. Either the hive was unhappy with her and they gave her the boot. Or we may have accidentally sqooshed her during a hive inspection. Or she may have been eaten by a bird or died of natural causes.

You can order a new Queen for around $50, which includes shipping. The new Queen comes in a cage with a few attendants who look after her. The bottom of the cork has a plug made out of sugar. You place her in the hive between two frames. The other bees become attracted to her pheremone and they start to eat the sugar plug to free her. In 2-3 days, they will have eaten all the sugar and she will be able to escape her cage and enter her new hive home and start laying brood. It's important for the Queen to remain in her cage separated from the rest of the hive because this allows the hive to become acclimated to her pheromone scent. Its important to do so whenever introducing a new Queen to prevent the hive from rejecting her and ultimately killing her. We'll check on her in 3 days time to make sure she has successfully escaped her cage. Long live the new Queen!

Cutest Card Ever!

I came back from vacation last week to find the cutest birthday card in the mail. My niece Claire drew me this card. I love it so much! How adorable is this?

She is 7 years old and just the sweetest! Here's the inside of the card! I just love how she drew the beehive and the bees around it. This is just the best birthday card ever! It's now hanging proudly on my refrigerator.

A Glutton for Punishment

I was on my way to work today, as I emerged from the Subway at the Bowling Green stop in Battery Park, I saw this man selling orchids at the park and literally stopped in my tracks. Did that sign really say $10????? I had to take a closer look. I love orchids. I mean L O V E. I've bought them several times in the past. But I have so little luck with growing them. The first two orchids that I ever purchased, I killed from overwatering. Orchids don't like too much water. They will suffer from root rot. And I pretty much killed them from overwatering. Then at the beginning of this year, I bought another orchid. Luckily, I learned my lesson with overwatering, and this orchid plant is still alive and thriving. It has yet to rebloom though. Do you grow orchids? How do you get it to bloom again? What's your best advice?

At $10 a plant, I couldn't resist and bought one. Am I a glutton for punishment or what? Here's my new orchid plant, it's a gorgeous striped purple color and it currently has 3 stems of blooms! I hope I can keep this one alive. One can hope! :)