Bee Beard competition

Random shot of the monkeys.
Jennifer looking at a skep, the old fashioned way of keeping bees.
Jillian checking out an old bike.

Getting ready for the bee beard, first they attach a Queen bee around the neck of the competitor, next pour on the bees. They will go to their Queen, it is definitely an old tradition for the beekeeper. It was a very humid, cloudy and rainy day, the bees were not happy so there was a lot of stinging going on, yikes!!
The bees are cradled carefully in the arms until they make their way up to the Queen which is dangled in a cage around the competitors neck. It is hard to see, the pictures were taken through a thick screening to keep the cranky bees contained for crowd safety.
Another picture taken in the bee yard.
Superman in the old train station(which hubby helped move to it's new location), it's used for demonstrations and a classroom teaching area.

My beekeeper getting on his gear, I have to say Hubby never usually wears a veil or gloves, he is used to the bees and the odd sting.
A very funny, trained Billy goat. Goes across the bridge to retrieve his own cup of food, which he pulls up on a string, it is the cutest trick ever. Needless to say he is a crowd pleaser so he gets fed a lot!!!
Girls on the bee tractor.
Having a swinging good time.
Jennifer by the honey extracting area.

We had bees for many years(in my hubby's family for generations), we sold them off last years, we run out of hours in the day!!

When the girls get a little older we will get back into having just a couple of hives which will supply us with enough honey for us, family and friends. Jeff is excited to teach the girls the hobby of beekeeping.