Hive inspection 7-18-10

Just completed an inspection today. About 2 weeks ago I had added a pollen trap. After being warned by more experienced beekeepers that this was a bad idea for a new hive, I decided to break the hive all the way down to remove the trap.

Since my visit last week, I had also begun feeding 1:1 syrup several days ago. The bees have been eating everything I put in, generally 1/2 - 1 gallon of syrup a day. Gotta go pick up a 25lb bag of sugar since the 5lb bags go too quick.

I had the benefit of having a visit from an experienced local beekeeper today. It was helpful to have an expert on hand, especially since he pronounced my hive to be 'looking good.'

Added another super! Maybe there will be honey yet this year.



Here's a slideshow with more pics:

Hive inspection 07-11-10

Prying up the lid...


Busy bees:


The Assistant Beekeeper Squad:

Hive inspection 06-27-10

Took a look at the hive yesterday. Nice hot sunny day, so tons of bees out and about. I added a super to the hive body 3 weeks ago, so I was keen to see what progress they made. Sure enough they've been busy drawing comb in the new super. There were 1 or 2 frames where the queen had already laid some brood. You can see from this pic that some of it is already capped.



I didn't remove the super to inspect the hive body this time, I'll probably do that in a future visit since I need to try to level the hive and I'd like to do all that at once.

I have noticed quite an increase in the number of bees around, so it seems like things are going well. I recently bought a top feeder, so I set that up and added a gallon of water to it before closing up the hive. Hopefully it helps 'em out.

Inspection update

Did an inspection this weekend 2 weeks after adding the first super to my hive.

1) Bees are making progress drawing out comb in the upper super.

2) They have also been buildig burr comb, which I scraped away.

3) Also noting propolis for the first time, they've been sealing all the edges of the hive where the boxes meet.

4) Got my first sting. Ouch! Funny enough, it was at the very end of the inspection when I was reassembling the hive. In puttig on the super I crushed some bees which came out on the edge of the brood chamber. That appears to have really pi$$ed them off, and one promptly got me on the forearm. Good news - I'm still alive, so clearly not allergic.

5) Lots more bees than in early weeks, I noted many frames of brood. The queen has clearly been busy.

6) Watching the hive at mid-day the next day, a nice sunny hot day, it was remarkable to see the amount of activity outside. Looked like JFK airport on Thanksgiving weekend.

4th week inspection

Things are moving along in the hive, I added a super this week since the bees have drawn out much of the comb.



Here's a slideshow with more pics:

3rd week inspection

It's been 21 days since I installed the package of bees on foundation. I was excited that a) I found the queen, and b) she's been busy laying eggs-- check out the picture where we caught her in the act...




Lots of larvae and lots of brood is now capped. Looks like the girls have been plenty busy.

2nd inspection

Second inspection of the hive done today, 2 weeks after installation of the package. Here's what I found...