Coincidentally

Turns out, the first grade class happens to be studying pollination. In the past, Ms. Jill's class would inspect bees, flowers, pollen, etc. Each of the kids took home a bee of their own. Apparently this year the supply of bees for the lesson was not high quality. They ended up with only one specimen to demonstrate pollination.

I found these stragglers from the other day. They were soaking wet, still, and lifeless. We collected them from the ground into a jar so we could offer them to the first graders. Before we got home, we were amazed to see that most of the bees had awakened.
The most amazing thing was the way they clustered in the jar. The first few that started moving huddled around the others and licked them and groomed each other until more and more woke up and began helping. Within an hour, 35 of the 50 bees were dry and lively, working to revive the remaining. Those cold bees I glimpsed earlier will undoubtedly be just fine. These creatures are astonishing.

The advise I received from a neighboring beekeeper was very reassuring. He told me he had experienced cold bees. He said they always wake up when they thaw out. When they say every beehive is different, every beekeeper's methods are different, it's because no one can prepare for what will happen once they get their bees. The classes can't demonstrate the weather. The books cannot express the intensity of the sounds. You Tube won't even touch on the way the bees behave. I am looking forward to seeing all the different colors the bees create from the variety of wild forage in the area, as the neighbor suggested, there's a lot going on within the hive.
He also mentioned there's not too much to worry about along the lines of infestation and infection with our area. I think I will take his advice and monitor the colony diligently before unnecessarily subjecting them to excessive mite treatments and medications. Its nice to have some experience close by to help out.

This was only day 3. Awesome.

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