Busy Bees

It was a nice warm day, and we couldn't wait to get into the hive. Around 12:00 we did our inspection. There was a bit of excitement...we saw the queen and a waggle dance, Tim got stung, and I had a bee in my pants. Tim wants me to state for the record that I viciously killed the bee in my pants for fear of being stung. It's true--I smacked my leg and that was that.

The bees have been very industrious, building comb like crazy. It is new and white and a little wavy. It stays within the confines of the frames, but it kind of undulates across with thicker and thinner bits of comb.

Here is what we saw:

Top Box:

Frame 1: Two large lobes.

Frame 2: There is a one inch gap at the bottom. Otherwise completely drawn out. Small deposits of nectar and pollen.

Frame 3: Same as frame one. Larva on one side and some white cappings.

Frame 4: Fully drawn out. Full of nectar and pollen.

Frame 5: Fully drawn out except 1/2 inch at the bottom. Lots of larva.

Frame 6: Same as frame 5. Some larva and nectar.

Frame 7: Same as above. The frame felt heavy. Pollen. Honey at the top and nectar. 'The pantry.'

Frame 8: Two lobes of comb. One very large and centered with a smaller one to the side. Already being filled with nectar and pollen.

Lower Box:

Frame 1: One large lobe and one very small second lobe.

Frame 2: Fully drawn out. Some pollen and nectar.

Frame 3: Fully drawn out. Some brood and nectar.

Frame 4: Fully drawn out and completely full of capped and uncapped brood. Compact and healthy looking. Dark in color

Frame 5: Same as above.

Frame 6: Queen! Dark, empty cells. Some capped brood at the edges.

Frame 7: Capped brood and empty cells. Dark comb. Waggle dance. And a bee with deformed wings.

Frame 8: Dark comb, with solidified pollen at the bottom. Drawn out to 5/6 of frame depth. The bees were festooning.

As before here are the photographs of each frame. It's interesting to compare with the previous inspection to see how much comb the bees have built in just nine days. I make it about 3 full frames of comb. You can also compare where the capped brood is. Just open this blog a second time and arrange the windows side by side to see the changes. BTW, the queen put in an appearance on frame 6 of the bottom box.

Top Box Photographs:
Frame 1:




Frame 2:

Frame 3:

Frame 4:

Frame 5:

Frame 6:

Frame 7a:

Frame 7b:

Frame 8:



Bottom Box Photographs:
Frame 1:


Frame 2:

Frame 3:

Frame 4a:

Frame 4b:

Frame 5a:

Frame 5b:

Frame 6a:

Frame 6b - Queen:

Frame 7:

Frame 8a:

Frame 8b: