Hive one, Hive Visit 3

So today was a balmy 34 degrees, and I went out to visit the hive again. A little late due to work (30 minutes or so) but nothing too bad. Picked up a new lighter for the kit as i'd taken my old one out for camping.

Go there, found farmer had put up odd looking white rope. With silvery glints in it. Nothing serious but instinct warned me..and I looked up Farmer lady. Smart move, it was electrified, but they nicely turned it off.

I only got caught once in it when I tried to get to the hives. Silly suit!

Gave the bees very little smoke today, as they were so gentle last week. There were a few more buzzing around today, maybe a dozen. Still, very gentle.

There was some activity around the entrance and I figured now might be a good week to remove the entrance excluder, so they could take full advantage. Did that at the end of the visit, last thing. First, a little puff of smoke, and they aall fled inside. Made me feel bad for them really.

This time it was me taking the pictures, with a glaring sun, through a veil and with a phone that seems to encourage glare and turn off the screen so...quality may be lacking. Next week I may take out my good camera.

Oh Hi there!

As you can see they left it cleaner on top which may be due to less sugar syrup. They have however, been building outwards which was good! I'm up to a solid five frames and two partially built. At seven you can put on the second story, so I may think about packing that next week. Or I may give them a week longer. Just because I pack it doesn't mean I have to use it, but too crowded a hive means bees try and do silly stuff like swarm.

some faint tinges of colour on the outside frames...and that's nectar from flowers, especially the darker stuff. No Queen yet.

Another peek into the hive-life

You can see how well they build it all together.

 The big white things are adult larva. And if you look carefully you can see coloured cells, the buff covered ones are capped larva, now pupae. the ones with the pretty yellows and oranges and the like are pollen.  Aren't they pretty?
I found four sunken cells, not a good sign, so i tested them to see what was in there. Syrup! Just capped early I guess. False alarms I can deal with .

 To the bees, I must be a menace from above.

So I removed the sugar syrup feeder and added a few extra boards. And as you can see they haven't built up the top again. 

 and i stole a tiny bit of honey laden wax to chew on. Maybe half a teaspoon worth. It was between two frames and damaged already, with a bee embedded in the wax.

Oh Her Highness? I found her.

See if you can spot her. This Queen Bee is fairly well visible. Sadly blogger won't let me upload this video, as its too big. I apologise for the quality but you can see a little bit of the frame too. It's not easy wielding a frame and a hive tool and a camera all at once!

a one minute tour of a frame


At this point I think a few bees were buzzing around, trying to make a point. So I closed up the hive, and let them bee...pun intended. After I removed the entrance excluder.

Now I'm down to naming my Queen bee, as I talked to Farmer Lady, and she said I was welcome to put up to 8 hives there if I want...I assured her there will be more next year if I have a say in it!

So I need a theme, for easy distinguishing.

The best suggestion I've had this week is 'ladies of Trek'. So, I'm down to three contenders for the first hive.

Amanda (Spock's mother), if you want to go alphabetical. And lets face it, she was a gentle and graceful lady.
Nyota, as hey, this is boldly going where I've never gone before. And she was one of the first ladies to do it, and did it well. And in light of the news of her having had a stroke this week.
The third option is Kathryn after the Captain of the same name...

Thoughts?