Sunnyside

Sunnyside is one of the original hives in our bee yard. It was purchased from a local beekeeper, but I soon discovered it was heavily infested with varroa mites, requiring immediate treatment. Unfortunately, the treatment was too harsh for the young queen, and she didn’t survive. This created a new challenge, as the hive needed a queen to continue thriving.

I quickly sourced a new queen from a local supplier and introduced her to the hive by placing her in a cage inside, allowing the bees to acclimate to her presence. Not long after, robber bees began targeting the hive, stealing its resources and endangering the new queen. To protect the hive, I closed it up to prevent more robbers from entering. However, as the afternoon sun heated up, another issue arose: with all the bees focused on defence, none could leave to collect water to cool the hive.

I recalled reading that Vicks VapoRub could be used as a deterrent for robber bees, so I applied it around the hive entrance. It worked! I was able to open a small entrance for the resident bees, with the Vicks masking it from the robbers. With the immediate danger passed, I released the queen, and the colony quickly accepted her. Thus, under intense conditions, the Sunnyside Hive was born.

I named the new queen Ellie in honour of Ellie Black, an elite gymnast and the best Canada has ever produced. She was part of the first Canadian Women's Gymnastics Team to qualify to the Team Finals at the 2012 Olympics. It felt fitting to name the queen of Sunnyside after someone so resilient and remarkable. Ellie is set to represent Canada in her fourth Olympics this year.