You know that feeling you get, mid-week, when you're at work and things are a little nutty? The feeling that you need to slow down, take a deep breath and center yourself? Usually that feeling means I'm due to visit my bees. They have that zen-like effect on me; I breathe in and out, focus, and move slowly and with purpose. I am always in a better mood after a visit with my girls.
Today was no exception. After a Saturday of nagging the kids to do their chores and sifting through the rubble of the previous week, I cajoled my husband into coming along with me to check on the bees and photograph the inspection. The photos below were taken with his cell phone camera - not bad!
I first inspected the hives that I combined last Monday evening. They had chewed through the newspaper and were very mellow - some fly-bys around my head but no warning swoops or intensified buzzing. The weak hive had bees and brood on one frame and just a little bit of honey. Below the weak hive and the newspaper, the stronger hive was bursting with activity and bees and lots of honey in many of the frames in the upper box. I didn't remove the upper box to check the lower, larger nest box, but from the looks of bees flying in and out, the volume of honey at various stages of finishing, as well as their mood, I'm going to guess, for now, that they are well.
The other hive with the two deep boxes (on the left in the photos below) is doing beautifully, as well. We got to see three bees being 'born' in one of the frames, chewing through the cappings and waggling their antennae - it was Scott's first time and he was appropriately impressed. (When asked later, he said he had never even thought about the fact that bees are 'born' and that it seemed like something out of a science fiction movie.) The brood pattern is beautiful. Lots and lots of capped brood, plenty of honey, no drone brood or any drones to be found for that matter. This queen has it going on and I'm very proud of her.
I will go back tomorrow to add feeders; the goldenrod here is at its end and there was very little pollen coming in on the foragers returning to the hive this afternoon. I'm feeling good about the girls going into winter. They seem strong and prepared.
Today was no exception. After a Saturday of nagging the kids to do their chores and sifting through the rubble of the previous week, I cajoled my husband into coming along with me to check on the bees and photograph the inspection. The photos below were taken with his cell phone camera - not bad!
I first inspected the hives that I combined last Monday evening. They had chewed through the newspaper and were very mellow - some fly-bys around my head but no warning swoops or intensified buzzing. The weak hive had bees and brood on one frame and just a little bit of honey. Below the weak hive and the newspaper, the stronger hive was bursting with activity and bees and lots of honey in many of the frames in the upper box. I didn't remove the upper box to check the lower, larger nest box, but from the looks of bees flying in and out, the volume of honey at various stages of finishing, as well as their mood, I'm going to guess, for now, that they are well.
The other hive with the two deep boxes (on the left in the photos below) is doing beautifully, as well. We got to see three bees being 'born' in one of the frames, chewing through the cappings and waggling their antennae - it was Scott's first time and he was appropriately impressed. (When asked later, he said he had never even thought about the fact that bees are 'born' and that it seemed like something out of a science fiction movie.) The brood pattern is beautiful. Lots and lots of capped brood, plenty of honey, no drone brood or any drones to be found for that matter. This queen has it going on and I'm very proud of her.
I will go back tomorrow to add feeders; the goldenrod here is at its end and there was very little pollen coming in on the foragers returning to the hive this afternoon. I'm feeling good about the girls going into winter. They seem strong and prepared.