Today we inspected Hive #1. This hive is the smaller one, in a previous post, we showed off the queen. The hive is growing and seems to be doing well in the cool and rainy Ohio spring.
What are looking for:
- Brood: Are there Capped, Larva, and/or Eggs?
- Comb: Comb drawn on all frames?
- Nectar, Honey, Pollen: Have they started filling the comb?
- Pattern: Does it have they typical brood in the middle with food at the edges?
- Crowding: How many frames have bees?
- Temperament and Sound: Calm, Angry, Quiet, Loud?
What we found:
- Brood: Yes to all! We have capped brood, with a few new bees emerging, larva in some cells, and eggs found on many of the frames.
- Comb: Not all the comb was drawn out, the low number of bees are clustered to the left side of the hive. They have occupied about 6 of 10 frames, with the empty frames on the far right. The pre-drawn frames (ones with comb from last season) are being occupied first.
- Nectar and/or honey: Yes, nectar is present on the frames in the middle. The bees are actively brining back pollen to feed the new baby bees.
- Pattern: Looks typical, with some spots open where bees have emerged from the cells. These have yet to be repopulated.
- Crowing: No, too few bees. They occupying less than 50% of the hive frames with lots of space for them to expand into.
- Temperament: Feisty at first, then calm during the inspection.
- Notes:
- The queen was spotted on the first frame from the left. She is actively laying eggs in this area.
- Removed empty feed syrup, as the nectar flow in the area is good, with lots of flowers and rain.
- Some pollen patties (supplemental protein) is still available for them to eat.
- Removed top empty box used to house the feeder
- Will check in 2-3 weeks for progress
