After installing #2 hive, it was time to check on hive # 1 to see their progress and remove the queen's cage. A bonus would be to spot the queen, but it takes a real good eye to spot her, even if she is clipped and marked. The queen's body is longer and more slender than the worker bees, with no markings on her back. Her eyes are also set different. The drones are a larger size than the workers as well, with large eyes that almost meet in the middle. They do have similar markings as the worker bees (to my untrained eye)- Look at the close up shot of my frmae and see if you can spot any :0).
After smoking the hive, I removed the inner cover and pulled out a frame- I caouldn't belive all they had built in two weeks! It is definitely true that bees are the hardest working creature out there! I also spotted some brood (eggs) in the comb in the bottom super, so even though I didn't catch a glimpse of her, I know the queen was there doing her job of procreation. I was a quick inspect, I removed the cage, and put the hive bakc together so the bees could get back to work. As temoting as it is to look in on my hives, it does disrupt their 'groove' especially smoking them, so I will keep my peeks to a recommended minimum. But it was thrilling to see them at work- the epitome of the phrase busy bee!
After smoking the hive, I removed the inner cover and pulled out a frame- I caouldn't belive all they had built in two weeks! It is definitely true that bees are the hardest working creature out there! I also spotted some brood (eggs) in the comb in the bottom super, so even though I didn't catch a glimpse of her, I know the queen was there doing her job of procreation. I was a quick inspect, I removed the cage, and put the hive bakc together so the bees could get back to work. As temoting as it is to look in on my hives, it does disrupt their 'groove' especially smoking them, so I will keep my peeks to a recommended minimum. But it was thrilling to see them at work- the epitome of the phrase busy bee!
No comments:
Post a Comment