Bbrian
New Bee
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2014
- Messages
- 5
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- Winchester, UK
- Hive Type
- Langstroth
- Number of Hives
- 2
We had our first two nucs delivered on Tuesday, they had been over-wintered and seemed raring to go. Everything seemed very calm and straight-forward with our bee expert there and each of the two hives received 5 frames of busy, active bees; we even managed to see one Queen.
I have just finished my first ever inspection and I was solo, no calm bee expert to hand! The most difficult part was keeping the smoker smoking, and deciding how much smoke you need? Some seem to work in a peasouper, while others give the occasional puff, all these decisions!!
If I am honest, the bees appeared far more relaxed than I was, which certainly helped. In Hive no.1 the bees have just started drawing out and building up the first of the new frames. I saw lots of capped brood cells, nectar, pollen & larva, but wasn't 100% sure I had seen eggs. Hive no.2 seemed far more dynamic, they have already got 2 new frames started and I 'got my eye in' and definitely saw eggs here, although there were fewer capped brood cells.
One lot had started building wax between the top of the frame and the board, should I scrape this off? I'll leave them now for a week (or should I check sooner?)
I have just finished my first ever inspection and I was solo, no calm bee expert to hand! The most difficult part was keeping the smoker smoking, and deciding how much smoke you need? Some seem to work in a peasouper, while others give the occasional puff, all these decisions!!
If I am honest, the bees appeared far more relaxed than I was, which certainly helped. In Hive no.1 the bees have just started drawing out and building up the first of the new frames. I saw lots of capped brood cells, nectar, pollen & larva, but wasn't 100% sure I had seen eggs. Hive no.2 seemed far more dynamic, they have already got 2 new frames started and I 'got my eye in' and definitely saw eggs here, although there were fewer capped brood cells.
One lot had started building wax between the top of the frame and the board, should I scrape this off? I'll leave them now for a week (or should I check sooner?)