Slideshow: Monta and Wes Capture Their First Swarm

Click on the photo for a slide show of Monta and Wes' first bee swarm capture (with help from Joyce and Paul).

The swarm issued from one of the nucs that has not yet been picked up.

Year 2, Week 5: Pleased to See the Queen

My friend Joyce and I did a quick inspection of Plan Bee... and Lib-BEE-taria this morning, after a quick program meeting. Although it was a bit cool for a mid-May day, the carniolans were very active, bring in pollen of various colors and shades.

Plan Bee..., the top bar hive, continues to draw out more comb, and the queen is laying a nice solid capped brood pattern. I had to add another bar to the hive, and fill the feeder with more sugar syrup. As usual, the bees were calm and gentle. No real problems seem to exist in this healthy hive of honey bees.

I did find the queen in Plan Bee... She attempted to hide under some workers but was unable to escape my gaze. She is large, at least larger than the queens I observed last year in my two hives.

I am pleased to report the same for Lib-BEE-taria as well. The carniolans in this hive haven't shied away from drawing comb on the plastic foundation. I am reluctant to admit that the black color of the plastic makes it much easier to see the eggs and young larvae in the open cells. This colony is producing a little more drone brood. I don't think this is a problem, just something I noticed.

In two days I will open up the other two hives and see what I can observe there.

Installation of More Bees

Yesterday, I installed two more packages of bees (Minnesota Hygienic), one in Metpropolis, and the other in Bee Glad... I was in the middle of grading finals so the bees came at a very busy time. I was in my office yesterday morning, around ten, when I received the call from B and B Honey Farms. I left immediately with my friend Joyce to pick the 3 pound packages up.

The installation went without a hitch. I took a bit of time to make last minute adjustments to each hive, while I waited for Monta to return from work to photograph the process. The actual installation took just a few minutes. Quite a difference from all the fumbling and tentativeness that went on my first year!