So 5 weeks in and on the third inspection I had my first bee sting, but more about that later
So inspection number 3, we have 2 supers on one hive and 3 on the other and we are still seeing a big difference in the 2 hives. With warnings that we were approaching swarming season we wanted to be sure all was well and that our bees had plenty of space to work.
The smaller hive was the one where we lost a lot of bees early on due to an issue with the feeder and they still don't seem to have caught up. With this being our first year it is not clear if they are behind or, if the other hive is ahead, or maybe a bit of both. This first hive still has 2 completely empty frames in the lower box, although they have started to work in the upper frames and we saw your royal highness the Queen in the second box presumably laying eggs. as there were eggs and larva present. So probably nothing to worry about but I think this hive may not produce as much honey.
The bigger hive was doing very well, we saw lots of activity , plenty of eggs, larva and most exciting of all we saw a bee emerging, you may be able to spot it in the picture below, and the Queen was present.
The other difference between the 2 hives is that the bigger hive has bees returning with lots of very orange pollen, in the second hive the activity is less and the bees are bringing back a lighter more cream coloured pollen, will be interesting to see if we can discern any difference in the taste or colour of the honey.
So, I am still doing the inspections without gloves, it is much easier to manage the frames and it doesn't worry me if the bees walk my hands. However, today a bee walked on my wrist and got caught in the elastic, resulting in it deciding to sting me. I removed the stinger with my finger nail and Lynn provided an ice pack and some calendula cream. It stung ( not unreasonably ) at the time but the ice eased that very quickly and now it is fine although a little tender to the touch. I am still planning to do the inspections without gloves, and I feel that my first sting is a rite of passage, another experience in becoming a real beekeeper.
So inspection number 3, we have 2 supers on one hive and 3 on the other and we are still seeing a big difference in the 2 hives. With warnings that we were approaching swarming season we wanted to be sure all was well and that our bees had plenty of space to work.
The smaller hive was the one where we lost a lot of bees early on due to an issue with the feeder and they still don't seem to have caught up. With this being our first year it is not clear if they are behind or, if the other hive is ahead, or maybe a bit of both. This first hive still has 2 completely empty frames in the lower box, although they have started to work in the upper frames and we saw your royal highness the Queen in the second box presumably laying eggs. as there were eggs and larva present. So probably nothing to worry about but I think this hive may not produce as much honey.
The bigger hive was doing very well, we saw lots of activity , plenty of eggs, larva and most exciting of all we saw a bee emerging, you may be able to spot it in the picture below, and the Queen was present.
The other difference between the 2 hives is that the bigger hive has bees returning with lots of very orange pollen, in the second hive the activity is less and the bees are bringing back a lighter more cream coloured pollen, will be interesting to see if we can discern any difference in the taste or colour of the honey.
So, I am still doing the inspections without gloves, it is much easier to manage the frames and it doesn't worry me if the bees walk my hands. However, today a bee walked on my wrist and got caught in the elastic, resulting in it deciding to sting me. I removed the stinger with my finger nail and Lynn provided an ice pack and some calendula cream. It stung ( not unreasonably ) at the time but the ice eased that very quickly and now it is fine although a little tender to the touch. I am still planning to do the inspections without gloves, and I feel that my first sting is a rite of passage, another experience in becoming a real beekeeper.
No comments:
Post a Comment