The Mayernik’s are Backyard Beekeepers!
Can you believe it? I can’t.
I have had a fear of bees for as long as I can remember. It was never the fear of them stinging me or crawling on me, it was the BUZZING sound. It literally would drive me to flail my arms and make myself look like a complete lunatic whenever one came a little too close to me.
But over the past year or so, I have become more interested in those buzzing little insects as I saw the decline of their species due to pesticides as well as changes in the climate. I knew I had to get over my fear to help the bee population, so what other rational move would there be to make, but to get 20,000+ of them in our backyard.
Backyard Bee Keeping in North Haledon, NJ
We first attended a meeting with owners Larissa and Eric of We BeeLieve at a local community center and from that night on, we were hooked. We reserved our bees through the NENJ Beekeepers Association and headed up to the Hudson Valley Bee Supply store to purchase all our supplies. When we packed up the car, we realized this was it, and we were becoming beekeepers!
Our next goal was to build our hives and frames and get everything set up for when our ladies arrived. Matt built a super cute table to put the hives on and we were set. The nerves have not set in yet but we knew the day was getting closer and closer to pick them up, which was the evening of April 17, 2017.
The Arrival of Our New Family
I guess my nerves finally kicked in a bit when we pulled into the parking lot of Ramapo College to pick up our two new nucs. We waited in line for a just a few minutes before a very nice gentleman handed me a box of 13,000 bees and said Have Fun! No gloves, no nothing – just a box of bees and me.
We got them home safely and pulled the plug on their temporary home, aka a cardboard box, and watched them pour out of the box. We were to let them rest over night before transferring them to their new home, the hive.
Tuesday morning arrives and our friend Eric came by to help us transfer them to the hive. I am not going to lie, I might have had a mini heart attack when I had to lift the frames out of the box and place them into the hive, but I remained calm and just watched these amazing insects work as a community. It was quiet amazing. Matt of course was cool as a cucumber transferring the frames into the hive and we got them all in the hive without any issues.
Now, we check on them weekly and let them do their thing. Fingers crossed they love our garden and help us grow amazing fruit, vegetables and herbs. And a HUGE THANK YOU to Eric and Larissa for all your help so far!
I am excited to share this journey with you all and if you have backyard bees or questions, please comment below and let us know!
