It's been a long week since we got our first hive full of bees. We wanted to check the hive every day but decided it was best to not open it for a while and to let them settle in!
The weather over the last week has been every thing from full sunny days and 32 degrees hot, to cool rainy days and only 12 degrees during the day. We were worried how these climatic variations might affect the hive while they tried to find their way around their new neighbourhood.
Did we get the queen? Did the swarm stay in the nice new box we gave them? Could they find enough pollen and nectar and water? Was the hive location right for them? Were there ants, beetles or wasps getting into the hive? And my biggest worry, how did the transplanted honeycomb go in the move last week?
On the afternoon of Saturday 24 October 2015 we visited hive number 1 site fill of excitement and worry. We only had one bee suit, the others we ordered hadn't arrived yet. So that meant the girls were observers and brilliant photographers from a safe distance.
I'd never opened my own hive before, and apart from watching others do it I had no practical experience at it. I was anxious that I'd some how screw it up and for a second imagined somehow clumsily knocking the hive over and seeing a swarm of angry killer bees fly out in a stormy cloud of stings and buzzing wings! .
I suited up, lit the smoker for it's first real hive inspection and tried to cross my fingers (the gloves made that part tricky).
The photos tell the rest of the story!
The weather over the last week has been every thing from full sunny days and 32 degrees hot, to cool rainy days and only 12 degrees during the day. We were worried how these climatic variations might affect the hive while they tried to find their way around their new neighbourhood.
Did we get the queen? Did the swarm stay in the nice new box we gave them? Could they find enough pollen and nectar and water? Was the hive location right for them? Were there ants, beetles or wasps getting into the hive? And my biggest worry, how did the transplanted honeycomb go in the move last week?
On the afternoon of Saturday 24 October 2015 we visited hive number 1 site fill of excitement and worry. We only had one bee suit, the others we ordered hadn't arrived yet. So that meant the girls were observers and brilliant photographers from a safe distance.
I'd never opened my own hive before, and apart from watching others do it I had no practical experience at it. I was anxious that I'd some how screw it up and for a second imagined somehow clumsily knocking the hive over and seeing a swarm of angry killer bees fly out in a stormy cloud of stings and buzzing wings! .
I suited up, lit the smoker for it's first real hive inspection and tried to cross my fingers (the gloves made that part tricky).
The photos tell the rest of the story!
Looking confident, feeling anxious!
Smoking the hive. Photographer hiding behind a tree!
Near disaster! The transplanted honeycomb had jumped out of its frame in transit to the site! Rookie error.
Here's one of the frames of transplanted honeycomb. The bees have basically abandoned it and moved to the wax foundation frames we prepared.
Bees on wax foundation frames.
Bees have built honeycombs on the back half of the frame. The front of the box gets more sun, could this bee the reason?
Freshly laid eggs! Other parts had nice fat 7 day old pupae!
The frame closest to the side of the box, looking good!
We're looking forward to seeing more healthy Hilltop Hives honeycomb in the coming months!
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