We had a beehive warming party on Sunday, April 25th!  Gary Violette, our bee guru and owner of Heavenly Honey Farm in Puyallup, was the guest of honor!

Also present were Vanessa, David (co-beekeeper of Sweet Bee Apiary), Bonnie, Nancy and Kellie.

Gary deemed the hives to be healthy and happy!

We all learned a lot about bees and how to care for them!  Vanessa is paying close attention!

This frame is full of capped brood (eggs and baby bees) and the workers are very busy.  You'll see a worker will baskets of pollen in the lower right hand corner - I was surprised to see that pollen comes in many different colors - cream colored to bright orange.

Our daughter Nathalie Heizenrader (BA Illustration, Pacific Northwest College of Art) and her dear friend Kevin Arnold came up from Portland to attend the party.  Nathalie was the official photographer, getting up close in her hat and veil wearing a skirt!  And no stings, too!  Also present but not pictured were our very dear friends Chris and Neil Hill, our neighbors Anand (Vanessa's husband) and their dear sweet little boy Sachen.

Nathalie took this photo of a worker bee that landed on her glove using my little Nikon digital camera.  What a fantastic photo!  Every little detail is so clear - veins in the wings, little claws on the legs, and segments in the antennae!  This is now the official Sweet Bee Apiary symbol - thank you "Little Sweet Bee".







All rights reserved - the photo of "Little Sweet Bee" is the exclusive property of Sweet Bee Apiary and may not be reproduced without written permission of the copyrights holder.