W.H.A.T.
It looks like the swarm I captured is happy and is going the stay around. I removed the leafy branch today and added more frames to fill up the hive. I also did a quick inspection and saw a red marked queen, so I’m pretty sure they swarmed from my hive.
After this video I condensed them down into an 8 frame box with a screened bottom board, slatted rack, and an entrance reducer.
I caught my first-ever swarm today. I looked outside around 12:15 p.m. and there was a cloud of bees in a frenzy. I suited up and grabbed a 10 frame box and bottom board, 3 frames of comb, a sheet, and a 6-foot step ladder. I also found an empty 5-gallon bucket and my pole saw. I removed the saw end and attached the bucket.
Continue reading “It’s 2019 Swarming Season”After 3 weeks both new packages are looking good. We didn’t see the queen during either inspection, but there is lots of brood and larvae. The first two photos below show a nearly perfect frame. Honey stored along the top, solid worker brood in the middle surrounded by pollen, and drone brood on the bottom right. You can also see larvae on the bottom left waiting to be capped.
This frame shows another solid brood pattern. The queen seems to be doing a really nice job. Continue reading “2017 Third Week Inspection”