A Thrilling Look at the First 21 Days of a Bee's Life

It's a Jungle Out There! May 13, 2015 In the Garden

Spring has sprung and our turtle is back! All is good!   

In the apiary we created a nuc from the healthy hive last Saturday and hope to check in and see what the bees have been busy doing later next week.  In the meantime, we'll keep an eye on hives two and three and keep our fingers crossed that they will continue to multiply. 

A Wonderful Day to Share the Bees

On Sunday, May 3, 2015, following a wonderful two days of wedding festivities, I had a chance to take Amanda into the hives.  The bees were very agreeable in the back two hives and the brood pattern in each was promising.  Hive two officially has a laying Queen and she's doing a super job.  Yeah!  Next week we will create a nuc to replace the ill fated #1 hive.  The Queen we purchased and put in this hive a week ago never made it out her cage alive.  Obviously, not a very friendly group of bees in that box.  Yikes! 

Meant to Bee! Zach and Lorianna

5/2/2015
Duke Gardens
~Meant to Bee~

Growing Pains! Friday, April 24, 2105

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! 

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. 

...are the new QUEENS busy at work?

Dave and I ventured into the hives on Saturday, April 11, and the back hive looks like the Queen is doing exactly what we would expect.  We didn't spot her but her work speaks for itself.  Hives one and two are another story.  Hive two appears to have capped brood, some brood larvae and some large Queen looking cells that are empty.  A lot of scenarios...brood in an uneven pattern, lots of drones is not a good sign but some other signs tell us to pause and be patient.  Maybe the hive made a new Queen for reasons unknown...we didn't spot one...maybe she was out getting ready to do business or perhaps this hive is without a Queen.  I doubt that, though since they were very agreeable. They'd be in a snit if there were Queen-less.  Hive one is in better shape than hive two...spotted lots of uncapped brood...maybe this Queen is a slow poke! 

Hive number one...look close and you can see some uncapped brood.  

Hive number three...the Queen is busy at work.  Lots of  capped brood! 

March 22, 2015...Three New Lovely Ladies

Three new queens marked in blue...might have to change that to PURPLE! LOL...Long live the Queen's!