Week 13, eleventh hive check

Hive check Saturday, July 16, 2016
The bees are back and so am I! I’ve been away on vacation and am sure the bees have appreciated some peace from my weekly visits. When I last checked, I thought the hives were rebounding and that’s exactly what I found. Populations in both hives appeared much larger than two weeks ago.

 

Hive 2 is filling up nicely. Box 1 has all ten frames built out, filled with lots of pollen, nectar and brood. I even saw the queen on Frame 3. Box 2 is almost filled with capped honey, just the outside frames are empty. I will put a honey super on during my next check with the hope that the bees will get an early start building out the honey comb. I want to be ready for next year’s honey flow! Below is a frame of solid capped honey. It was very heavy when I lifted it out of the hive.

 

Hive 1 is also doing well. Box 1 was filled with eggs, larva in all stages, capped brood, lots of pollen and nectar. Box 2 had lots of burr comb (seen on the top side of the wooden frame.) Box 2 is also filling with capped honey, with the brood nest moving up into the center frames.

 

This is a frame from the honey super box on top. As you can see, the frames are not as deep as the bottom boxes. The bees have decided to build a big blob of honey comb down the center of the frame into the frame beside it. It was hard to break the frames away from each other in order to pull it out.

 

Ultimately I broke off the extra comb. You don’t want frames with wonky wax!

 

Bottom board check

 

I was very surprised to see dead bees on the bottom board of Hive 1. I asked at our meeting and was told that there must have been a small opening somewhere in the bottom board. The bees crawled in thinking they’d get into the hive, but had crawled below the screen and couldn’t get back in.

I didn’t see any Verroa mites on the board. I was also told that because I had an interruption in the breeding cycle  when the hives were queenless, that alone would knock back the mites.

Hive 2 Stats
Super
No super

Box 2
F1   Little comb
F2 – F8   Full of capped honey
F9   One side of comb
F10   No comb

Box 1
F1   Capped honey + pollen
F2   Capped honey, pollen + brood
F3   Queen + larva, brood, nectar, pollen
F4 – F5   Lots of larva +pollen
F6 – F7   Capped brood
F8 – F10   Honey + pollen

Did not see eggs
Saw larva in all stages
Spotty brood

Hive 1 Stats
Super
F1 – F2    No comb
F3 – F8   Comb
F9 – F10   No comb

Box 2
F1 – F2   Capped honey
F3 – F4   Capped brood + capped honey (frame was stuck to the box w-propolis)
F5   Capped brood, larva + honey
F6   Capped brood, pollen + capped honey
F7
F8
F9
F10

Box 1
F1   Larva + capped brood
F2   Eggs, larva, pollen + honey
F3   Lots of pollen, capped brood + larva
F4
F5
F6
F7
F8
F9
F10

Lots of honey comb being built across frames
Did not see queen
Saw eggs and larva in all stages
Spotty brood