Norman and our top bar bee hive

At last, our top bar hive is full of bees! We wanted to have bees to have our own honey but were put off by the amount of equipment you needed. Then about 5 years ago I read about the Barefoot Beekeeper and we decided to get a top bar hive (TBH). I met two other local TBH enthusiasts and one of them persuaded his Men's Shed (in Mirboo North) to make them. We bought one, but it has been sitting there for 3 years, waiting for bees. Most apiarists were not willing to sell me bees, as they would only sell me frames of bees, which would not fit into it. I tried asking a local who removed bee swarms, but he, too, was sceptical. Then our neighbour Angelo tracked down Norman. Norman is a Cossack beekeeper! We met in a car park on the Mornington Peninsula, and he overcame my scepticism of the whole deal, resulting in me handing over the empty TBH and a cash payment in advance. Just a few days later and he sent me this video. Whoah! BEES! Now we just have to pick it up and get it home, all 100kg of it.