The afternoon was sunny and bees foraging. Standing underneath the apple tree there was a gentle hum of honeybees with an occasional deeper note as a bumble bee moved from flower to flower.
The hives in the apiary were busy but well behaved. Working through in turn the colonies were expanding steadily although not equally.
The weak hive which received a donated frame of brood last week had seen the queen start to lay on a third side of comb. There may not be a lot of bees in the hive but they have collected a lot of nectar.
Hive 3 had produced a charged queen cell. Only one however. Since the queen is now the oldest in the apiary I am thinking it could be superceding hm. I'm going to let them get on with it.
I caught a bee between my finger and hive tool so she rewarded me with the first sting of the season.
The hives in the apiary were busy but well behaved. Working through in turn the colonies were expanding steadily although not equally.
The weak hive which received a donated frame of brood last week had seen the queen start to lay on a third side of comb. There may not be a lot of bees in the hive but they have collected a lot of nectar.
Hive 3 had produced a charged queen cell. Only one however. Since the queen is now the oldest in the apiary I am thinking it could be superceding hm. I'm going to let them get on with it.
I caught a bee between my finger and hive tool so she rewarded me with the first sting of the season.
