Keeping Up With the Bees- 3 weeks since install

It has been three weeks since I installed the package. The bees have been busy and we have had some fun spotting them all over the yard. Our girls are working hard in the hive.

Here is the timeline so far:

• December- I received my hive and some beekeeping supplies for Christmas.
• January- I ordered my three pound bee package from a local supplier out of Stillwater.
• March through April we prepped for the bees arrival.
• April 18- Bee Day! My daughter and I drove to Stillwater to pick up and then installed the bees.
• April 19th- went to check on the feeder pail to be sure it was dripping properly. Found some bees locked out of the hive and I put them inside. Removed the grass plug in the entrance.
• April 26th- My first time using the smoker and opening the hive since I installed them. I checked on the bees and removed the queen cage. Later that day, I also visited my daughter's kindergarten class to share about our bees. 
• April 29th- I went up to add 1:1 sugar syrup in the feeder pail and was happy to see eggs- one per cell that is good!

Today (May 9th): I took a camera along so I could share more!

My daughter came up to observe when I opened the hive. She was very excited (and my husband was jealous). I know very soon she will be working with the bees too. She was not scared at all and did very well. I need to get her some leather gloves. Her garden gloves were too small so I had her wear mine for today.

Removed the telescoping and inner covers. The feeder pail was still pretty full so I did not refill it yet. Here you can see the busy girls from the top of the main part of the hive. 

Removed frames to inspect for eggs and larve. You can see some dark cells. Those are filled with pollen.

They are going a little crazy building wax in the center on the green frame.

Look close in the cells and you can see the larvae!

Here is a close up. The blue circle is the larve. The red circle is an egg... tiny! The green cicle shows you some capped cells. When the pupae is fully developed the bee will chew its way out of the cell.

One of my pretty girls!

My son is getting in on the bees too. He watched them gathering nectar and pollen on the azelea through the window. He said, "the bees are making me honey."

So there it is. I will be going back weekly throughout the summer. As summer progresses we will be moving frames around, adding more boxes (deep hive body) and possibly a honey super if the girls really get going. I will also be checking for different diseases and pests along the way to be sure they are healthy.  I hope you enjoyed the visit.

Blessings!!

How many are your works, Lord!

In wisdom you made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures.

~Psalm 104:24 (NIV)

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