Reading, Writing and Arithmatic (Bee-style)

I came home from work today to do my hive inspection. With the days getting shorter and my work day getting longer, it's hard to find a good time to open the hive. Today it was a nice cool day--maybe in the 70s-- and the bees were really mellow. I'm getting better at snugging up the frames without squishing bees. I try to just keep the frames together as much as possible. I pulled out an empty frame at the very end to create room and then 're-snugged' each frame as soon as I returned it to the hive box.

I had smoke ready to go, but only used it at the very end because a few bees were crowding around the last two frames, and I thought it might convince them to go toward the center of the frames. No luck. They just clustered around the very spot I was trying to clear! I suspect that I squished a bee or two as I snugged the last two frames. Fingers crossed it wasn't my queen.

Speaking of old Queenie (Kari can't believe I haven't named her), I still haven't managed to spot her a second time. Last week that was okay because I was seeing eggs. This week, I couldn't see eggs, and I saw fewer larva than in inspections past.

The last frame, which was previously1/2 full of capped honey seems like it's about 1/4 full at this point. So they are eating their stores, which means they will need to be fed to get through the winter. On the other hand, the new frame is already 3/4 drawn out!

I just wish I had seen the queen or some eggs. According to Michael Bush's Beekeeping Math (http://www.bushfarms.com/beesmath.htm), seeing uncapped brood today means I had a live queen 7-8 days ago, which coincides with my last inspection. I did see some uncapped brood today. I will be looking for my queen, larva and eggs in my next inspection. By the way, the Beekeeping Math page is a great tool for figuring out what's going on with your hive.

Tim tells me that the bees would be acting strange--'directionless'--if they were queenless. They would be sort of milling around the hive without purpose. I don't think that is the case here. They are still bringing in pollen, and they certainly had enough direction to make great progress on their new frame. So, I just need to relax! RELAX, bee girl.

Some of the frames were so full of bees today that I couldn't actually see the frames. I'm hoping the queen and her newly laid eggs were hiding out under the girls.

I removed the card that I used to administer the Thymol. The bees had chewed holes in it. I will apply the second dose as soon as possible. I'm also debating whether or not to start feeding them again. Probably yes.

I want to go searching for my queen. I just want to see her--I can't tell you how much better it would make me feel. And I wish Tim was here; he's so good at spotting the queen and keeping me sane.