Bee Diary: 2018-06-07 - Into the hive, one last time

Bees amassing at the entrance to the hive

When I last went into the hive I was so nervous and excited I ended up forgetting to look for the things I wanted to look for. I don’t really want to go tearing into the hive and disturbing the house too frequently, but knowing I needed to look for eggs and larva, I waited a week and then ventured back in. What I found both excited and relieved me.

Brood

A view into the hive from the top Sorry, I have but so many hands so I didn’t get a picture of this, but there was definite larva growing on both side of at least one frame in the hive! I was going to say that they looked so little but, no, they didn’t. They looked like they were getting ready to flop right out of their hexagon homes and into full animation.

The frame was maybe the fourth one in from the end so I didn’t really venture further into the hive to reduce the probability of potentially inflicting damage on the hive. The question was, do I have a viable queen; the answer is yes.

Honey

Another sign of a healthy hive I wanted to see was honey being stored. Last time I noticed that the bees were busy making wax and building out the hexagon honeycomb that we all know and love. A week later and the bees are now actually storing things inside those little hexagons!

This is one of the outer frames so I’m guessing they have already been working hard on the inner frames. A brief look into the cracks between the frames shows definite wax work.

Summary

Overall, I’m pleased. I was worried that something was wrong even though all evidence pointed in the other direction.

Oh, the ants had mostly gone away! I guess the eviction by paint brush was enough to make it inhospitable for long-term living. Good.

To Do

Continue to inspect the medium box (empty) for ants and evict them if seen.
Tilt the hive forward instead of back.
- Need to get a small piece of wood to do this.

Sparks's Journal

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Bee Diary - 2018-05-30 - Venturing into the hive