Hive inspection...Not sure what we will see this evening. We spot the Queen (she's the one with the blue dot) in hive #3 and are delighted that she is working hard. Lots of brood and the bees are very laid back. This hive is looking good! Hive #2 is very agreeable, as well, but we don't see a Queen. We guess this hive may have a new one since we spotted a few Queen cells earlier in the month. Some brood in this hive but it's all drone comb. Not a great sign but again we'll be patient and see if the new queen is just not ready to begin laying eggs. Hive #1...OUCH! These bees are ornery and we didn't plan on smoking the bees this evening so we share 8 stings between the two of us. Note to self...hostile bees are much easier to handle when you smoke them first! P.S. getting stung on the fat hanging on to my belly hurts! This hive is Queenless and upset!
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On Saturday, April 25th, we are on a mission...Find a Queen for hive #1 and see if we can find the Queen in hive 2. Mission Accomplished! We spot the Queen in hive 2 and install a new Queen in hive 1. Not sure they will except her since they are so onery and the comb is full of drone brood but we'll keep our fingers crossed until our next hive inspection. No stings today...we used our smoker when we went into the "not so happy" hive.
