What started out as a quick and simple trip to the hive quickly turned into a full Becky-Get-Your-Hat hive inspection. I just wanted to check the level of sugar syrup in their feeder, but imagine my surprise when I found that the bees had started building "chimney wax" over the top bars of their frames. Being that they still had about three outer frames left to draw out in the brood box, I wasn't expecting them to begin expanding upward yet. Although there were still a few half empty frames, and the colony still seems small, I quickly realized that it was time to put on a second super.
I put on my hat and gloves and got to work. I decided to do a quick check for beetles again, and it was during this check that I got my second surprise. I was able to see my first baby bee trying to emerge from its cell in the brood comb. It was really exciting to watch her chewing through the wax cap. I'm posting a short video of myself and my partner Stewart totally geeking out to this.
Oh, and happily, I didn't find any beetles.
 |
| The beginning of "chimney comb" |
 |
| Honey, pollen, and larva - all looking good. |
 |
| The super clean "chimney" comb. |
 |
| Look for this cell in the video below. It's a baby bee chewing through its wax brood cap. |
No comments:
Post a Comment