It was important to check on the “new” colonies that I installed 10-days ago. It is important to make sure that the queen is laying and the hive is working properly. A week to 10 days after hiving will give the queen time to start laying eggs, and the eggs to start turning into larvae, and have that larvae grow to the point that the nurse bees will “cap” the cell — called capped brood. This all becomes very easy to see to the naked eye, whereas if you go too soon, just laid eggs can be hard to spot.
It was a warm day, around 60 degrees, but the wind…my goodness, it was strong. Plus, clouds made it seem a bit cooler. Bees are not crazy about wind, but the temperature allowed me to keep the hives open long enough to do a thorough check.
I am happy to say that both hives are doing well. I did not see the queen in either hive, but eggs, larvae and capped brood told me that the hive was “right.” Below is a photo of what I am talking about:
In one of the hives I found excess honeycomb where it should not have been. Two of the frames were too far apart from one another and the bees were creating comb to fill the gap. Very unnecessary to the workings of the hive, I removed it. See below,
If you look closely enough, you can see the eggs in some of the cells. There should only be one egg per cell. Yes, I sacrificed a few eggs for the good of the hive.
Also, very happily, I saw foraging bees, called foragers, returning to the hive with pollen. Even though I give the hives pollen patties, that will stop as soon as pollen becomes very prevalent. The honeybees will put the pollen in cells for needed protein. Note the queue — so sweet.
My overwintered hive, Hive 3, is doing well also. Their numbers need to improve, but I saw a lot of eggs, larvae, and capped brood which will help.
#honeybees #beekeeper #backyardbeekeeping #beekeepinginmn #northernclimatebeekeeping #hobbybeekeeper #nature
A Gardener's Diary 