Happy Hives

Yesterday our bee mentor returned to professionally assess the status of both hives. This spring swarm season has been confusing to me as I learn to understand more about bee behavior. Hive #2 had a few swarm cells. We did leave one…I think because if they are going to swarm they are going to swarm. There’s lots of bees in hive #2, we are trying to give them plenty of room – they now have two supers to work. Hoping they move some of the honey from the brood boxes up to the supers and all the bees will stay! 🤞

Now, that nuc box that has been baking for 14 days, the one with the new queen…all went well in there!!! My bee mentor successfully put together a nuc box of brood frames, a new queen, and a mix of bees that looks like it worked. The hive accepted the new queen. Hive #1 is now reassembled as two deep brood boxes. In another week it should be ready for a super. Hive #2 currently has two supers and if all goes well, I’ll be looking to add a third next week. 

The hot weather forecast is a little discouraging. I’m optimistic the bees will thrive but wonder if the record high temps will dry up the nectar flow prematurely?!?!? It will be interesting to see the pace at which the bees draw out the supers and how quickly they are able to fill with honey. They really are amazing little creatures. 🐝

I’m also thinking I might need to finish assembling a few more supers and the frames/foundation for each. There’s nothing worse than having a hive ready for additional supers and not having the equipment ready to go…I better double check to make sure I have it all set and ready if indeed I would need it for more honey than I know what to do with in the next few weeks! Fingers crossed that’s my next “problem”. 🤞

Looking back at the mistakes we made on our last hive inspection I was relieved to know there’s still hope for hive #2. I’m anxious to see how that hive plays out and if we will be able to successfully keep that hive from swarming.

Mother’s Day took on a bee theme here. We were blessed to celebrate with our Moms (our kids grandmothers). Walmart pulled though with the cake…

The kids got me a shirt and the cutest but tiniest honey jars…I think I made everyone nervous that the honey crop might be low this year. Nonetheless, I still look forward to sharing even if there might be less to share.

For now though, I’d say there’s still a good chance we might have a lot of honey come the end of summer! Ah…the highs, lows, and unknowns of this new adventure…it’s not for the faint of heart.

Worker Bee 2021