She's a Layin!
Apr 12, 2011
Monday was another beautiful sunny day and the bees were out enjoying the day (can bees enjoy things?) I decided that after work would be a great time to see if the queen was out and do my first inspection since the bees were introduced to their new home. The bee traffic was thick and there was a lot of full pollen sacs entering regularly.
[caption id="attachment_83" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="check the bee with the pollen"]
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My son wanted to come up and watch the opening of the hive but ended up standing as far away as possible on the roof. I'm hoping that he gets more comfortable as time goes by.
I opened the top removed the feeder made from a jam jar with holes poked in the lid, took the inner cover off and the bees weren't upset at all. A few started to bang into my veil so a quick spray of sugar water infused with some "Pro Health" feeding stimulant that contains lemongrass and spearmint essential oils. This seemed to calm the more active ones. After removing the first frame (nothing on it except one lone bee) I slide the next frame out and that had a few more bees but no real activity or comb drawn out. The third frame had one side with drawn comb on the side closer to the center.
[caption id="attachment_86" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Before removing the frames"]
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The Pollen Pattie looked untouched but there was bees all around the edge. I presume as there is pollen available outside the hive they prefer that. I did spot quite a few cells filled with different colors of pollen. Great work girls!
I need to get a better camera or learn how to take pictures without gloves and a veil. For now the veil stays and the pictures are what they are.
Steve
[/caption]
My son wanted to come up and watch the opening of the hive but ended up standing as far away as possible on the roof. I'm hoping that he gets more comfortable as time goes by.
I opened the top removed the feeder made from a jam jar with holes poked in the lid, took the inner cover off and the bees weren't upset at all. A few started to bang into my veil so a quick spray of sugar water infused with some "Pro Health" feeding stimulant that contains lemongrass and spearmint essential oils. This seemed to calm the more active ones. After removing the first frame (nothing on it except one lone bee) I slide the next frame out and that had a few more bees but no real activity or comb drawn out. The third frame had one side with drawn comb on the side closer to the center.
[caption id="attachment_86" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Before removing the frames"]
[/caption]
The 4th and 5th frame had comb drawn out on both sides and i could see the eggs! I'm pretty sure that I spotted the Queen scurrying away but because I spotted the eggs I was happy. The 6th frame had some drawn comb on both sides but not as much as the 4 and 5. Frames 7 and 8 we pretty much bare, a few bees but that's all.
[caption id="attachment_85" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Frame 5"]
[/caption]
The Pollen Pattie looked untouched but there was bees all around the edge. I presume as there is pollen available outside the hive they prefer that. I did spot quite a few cells filled with different colors of pollen. Great work girls!
I need to get a better camera or learn how to take pictures without gloves and a veil. For now the veil stays and the pictures are what they are.
Steve