Sunday, May 17, 2015

Best Inspection Ever!

Another hive inspection yesterday, and we are so happy! We didn't go far into hives when we didn't have to, but we saw what we needed to see. First, the Pooh Hive.


Our girls have the second brood box almost completely drawn and a few are up in the honey super. It's not drawn at all yet, but we having a feeling that's coming very soon.

 Next, the Fish Hive.  Unfortunately, this video is a bit blurry, and for that, I apologize.


This is the nuc we got this year, and it's growing really quickly. We might actually get honey out of this hive this summer! 

Last, Wonderland Hive.  



This is the split we took from the Pooh hive, which last week we were afraid were going to swarm.  They didn't but all the queen cups and swarm cells are gone - the girls removed them and hung around, drawing out the comb instead.  Plus, we found young larvae, so we've got a queen!

After our inspections, we spent some time chatting with our neighbors across the street, and found out that the husband used to keep bees too!  They hadn't realized we were keeping bees, but were really excited.  They've got an amazing garden in their yard, with fruit trees, a huge vegetable garden, roses, basil, mint, and all sorts of other herbs and flowers.

Apparently, the other day, their son was over and noticed a ton of honeybees on the apple tree.  He commented about it to his dad, who insisted that they hadn't seen honeybees in years, and that it had to be bumblebees.  The son insisted no, it was honeybees, and now they figure it was our bees!  That's both sad and wonderful.  Wonderful that they're seeing our bees, and that our girls are getting their sustenance, and without pesticides there, as they don't spray.  Sad, as they hadn't seen honeybees in many years, which is just evidence of the frightening decline of the population.

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