A mixed day; added a super to the best hive, which has brood on half or more of 8 frames, including a scattering of drone brood along the bottom of the BS sized frames (the rest are 14x12s). That's the earliest I've ever put a super on a hive, but it's set fair for days and, here in town, there's a lot of nectar about already, so I think they'll need the space.
The second colony is bringing in loads of pollen, and crammed with bees, but the big patches of brood which I spotted on the last inspection have now been capped, revealing well over a third of it to be drones. It looks like this queen has hit a barren patch and/or run out of steam altogether. Either way, they were a bit offhand with me... no stings, but a bit of following, so I want to requeen them anyway. Can't be too careful with a garden colony.
Big yellow queen wasps everywhere, cruising about like the insect equivalent of New York taxis. They're so beautiful I hate to squish them, but it's the one thing that actually seems to make a difference to wasp numbers later on, so sorry ladies... I don't mind a few wasps, but if you all get going, this garden ain't gonna be big enough for both of us.
