Two Inspections Later…
I know I can swear up and down to update here more, but I received my second CoVid vaccine the week after my last post and spent a good week feeling miserable. I’m glad to be past it. I’m even more glad to have received it. Enough about the state of the world currently and on to the reason anyone visits this page, BEES!!
My hive inspections last Sunday, 5/23, went well. I found both queens and the bees are building comb and bringing in pollen and just doing really well. They were both finally moving off the five frames they’ve been working on since installation in April. I was excited and decided to do another check in 7 days so I don’t miss my window for adding another box and frames for them to expand into. This bring me to my inspection yesterday, 5/30.
Galadriel is doing well. Lots of different stages of larva and some capped brood. I swear, the second I move one of the feeders just a smidge, those girls start dive bombing my head. If I smoke them, they behave. If I walk a few feet away, they stop, so I know it’s simply defense of their hive, but wow, the second they see sunlight, they are in fight or fight mode. And yes, I did mean to say fight twice because those girls are itching for a fight! I don’t get many pictures inside the hive of them because I’m too busy trying to see what I need to see and close up the hive again.
Opening up my Frigga hive yesterday, 5/30, was a different experience from normal. They are usually laid back girls. I’ve done inspections where I forgot to put my bee suit veil back up to cover my head. The Galadriel girls were still kinda spicy toward me and dive bombing my head since I was still close to their home, so I made sure I had my veil on while I was going through the Frigga hive.
I didn’t see the queen during my inspection and that makes me a bit nervous. However, I did find eggs, so she’s been there recently. This hive has a lot of wonky comb that I know I should fix, but I just can’t make myself purposely kill developing bees when it’s not hurting anyone. I suspect, and hope, she was in the wonky comb where I couldn’t see her. Frigga is going to need another box in the next week or so. Galadriel might take another week or two beyond that, but she might also surprise me.
Now, to the part where I was VERY glad I had to keep that veil up. In order to put the hive back together, I have to put the two frames in I take out so I can get into the hive. As I was moving those back to their spots based on the propolis, the girls lost their minds and got revved up. I didn’t smell bananas, which is what you’ll smell if the girls start putting out danger pheromones when they feel they’re under attack. I’m not sure what happened, so I got everything situated and closed up the hive. I might do small checks by moving the one feeder over the side of the hive they are only just now starting to get working on, but I won’t do a full inspection until next weekend. I really don’t want to miss giving them more space.
Honestly, I am still loving having my hives. They keep life interesting. They’re also exposing me to a plethora of ticks, but I’m slowly learning how to keep those little devils off me. Okay, well, any questions, just ask! If I can’t answer, I know how to find someone who can answer them!