Today we inspected Hive #1.
Overall the hive is growing slower than expected. New bees are emerging from their cells, very little nectar is being stored on the edges of the frames, no major buildout on the empty frames was seen, and no eggs were found. The queen was wandering about, she was easy to find. Time to feed the hive. It is possible the low number of bees, combined with the lower than expected nectar flow is putting strain on the hive. We are going to feed them and re-evaluate.
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:
- We have capped brood, with a new bees emerging, larva in some cells.
- However, NO eggs found on many of the frames.
- Comb:
- Bees are clustered to the left side of the hive.
- They are continuing to utilize 6 of 10 frames. The pre-drawn frames (ones with comb from last season) are being occupied first.
- Nectar and/or honey:
- Very little nectar is present.
- While the bees are flying in and out, they appear to be struggling to fill the frames. We would expect more nectar to be present.
- Pattern:
- Looks typical
- Some open areas where bees have emerged from the cells. These have yet to be repopulated with new eggs.
- Crowding:
- Looks good, they still have room to expand into.
- Will consider adding more space at next inspection
- Temperament:
- Feisty at first, then calm during the inspection.
- Notes:
- The queen was easily spotted
- No new eggs were found
- Baby bees were doing figure 8 test flights outside of the hive – which indicates they are learning to fly and orient themselves
- We added sugar syrup and protein patties to supplement new bee growth and ensure these bees don’t struggle.
- Will check in 2-3 weeks for progress
- This hive remains as a single brood box. No honey collection yet!
