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Hive Expansion, Phase I
May. 14th, 2011 11:54 amThe bees now have a fancy two-story condo. Installation was no problem at all.
I also retrieved the definitely empty queen cage and inspected the frames for brood. There are about 7 frames actively being worked on. I wasn't able to absolutely confirm the presence of brood, as I was looking for the tan, cardboard-looking surface that the books describe and everything was actually coated in bright yellow pollen, but there were the tall cells that should be drone brood, all clumped together like they are supposed to be, so they were probably surrounded by worker brood. I forgot about holding the frames up to the sun to look through the wax for eggs and larva, but it was pretty overcast to be trying that anyway. I think we're probably in good shape. And I have to assume that all that pollen is a good thing.
The feeder was empty, so I refilled it - as long as they are eating the syrup, I will supply it, I guess. I tossed the gallon bag of syrup that was on top of the hive. It wasn't empty, but it had been out in the sun for longer than seems safe for anything to eat.
Tried out the smoker, so now I know I can work it with the gloves on, but I didn't need it. These bees are pretty docile. They were understandably disturbed by me moving frames around and reaching into the heart of the hive to get the queen cage, but were never really aggressive and calmed down quickly. Which is nice for me.
Wednesday was fascinated by the whole thing. I don't know if she is actually interested in the bees or suspects that any out of the ordinary thing I do might result in the appearance of tuna, but she stuck close and watched carefully. But she didn't pounce on anything or stick her nose close enough to get stung, so that's all right I guess.
Pictures
( Behind the cut )
I also retrieved the definitely empty queen cage and inspected the frames for brood. There are about 7 frames actively being worked on. I wasn't able to absolutely confirm the presence of brood, as I was looking for the tan, cardboard-looking surface that the books describe and everything was actually coated in bright yellow pollen, but there were the tall cells that should be drone brood, all clumped together like they are supposed to be, so they were probably surrounded by worker brood. I forgot about holding the frames up to the sun to look through the wax for eggs and larva, but it was pretty overcast to be trying that anyway. I think we're probably in good shape. And I have to assume that all that pollen is a good thing.
The feeder was empty, so I refilled it - as long as they are eating the syrup, I will supply it, I guess. I tossed the gallon bag of syrup that was on top of the hive. It wasn't empty, but it had been out in the sun for longer than seems safe for anything to eat.
Tried out the smoker, so now I know I can work it with the gloves on, but I didn't need it. These bees are pretty docile. They were understandably disturbed by me moving frames around and reaching into the heart of the hive to get the queen cage, but were never really aggressive and calmed down quickly. Which is nice for me.
Wednesday was fascinated by the whole thing. I don't know if she is actually interested in the bees or suspects that any out of the ordinary thing I do might result in the appearance of tuna, but she stuck close and watched carefully. But she didn't pounce on anything or stick her nose close enough to get stung, so that's all right I guess.
Pictures
( Behind the cut )
