Better Bee Update
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While most experienced beekeepers check on hives every other week, when learning about bees it's good to check regularly while trying not to be overly disruptive with smokers and such. So, we've been going out on a weekly basis and pulling a few trays out to see how the hive has grown, keep track of the queen, and keep up with how much honey is being produced.
This Tuesday around 9 a.m. our friend Eileen and her son Kane stopped by to learn about beekeeping. Kane and I suited up in your bee suits—his was a big for him:
Because we are doing it 9 in the morning while the bees are still sleepy, we did not need to use smoke for the bees. I open up the bee box to see all the bees hard at work. We have 10 frames in the box and from what I saw, the bees have taken over seven of the frames. This is great news: It means the bees have a queen and are now making honey to feed themselves and also to make honey for the winter months. I took out two of the frames to see if there was any honey being made and I saw honey shining in the frame. I showed Kane the frames with all the bees and pointed out the worker bees and the drones to him. After that, the bees started to make a lot more buzzing which I took as a cue to let them get back to work. Everything looked really good in the box; so next Tuesday we will suit up once again to see if they took over the rest of the frames. If so, we will have to add other box to it so they can fill those frames, too.
