TBH Update

Tim and I took a look at the TBH a few weeks ago and then again about a week ago. They seem to be doing okay. We opened up the brood nest and added some empty top bars on our first inspection, in hopes that the bees would quickly make some comb and feel like they have lots of room to expand rather than swarm. We'll see how that goes. On more recent peeks into the hive, we've noted that the bees are indeed making comb on the new top bars.

These bees are pretty paranoid. They are forever building queen cells that they don't do anything with. I sometimes wonder if it is because of the queen's laissez faire laying style. She really is a sloppy layer, but she seems to make a truck-load of bees regardless. Maybe this keeps the bees on edge. All of the queen cells appear to be superscedure cells--at least they are located toward the top of the combs--and we didn't think that they were actually laying in them. But last week, as I observed the hive, I saw a rather long, white, partially developed pupa fall from the bottom of the hive onto the ground. It looked to me like the colony was yanking a queen before she was fully developed. Did they decide that they didn't need her after all? Was something wrong with her?  Hard to say.

While I was pulling weeds last week, I saw a couple of workers escort a wingless wonder from the hive. Looks like we're going to have to treat for Varroa soon. I haven't found a good technique for TBH hives though.