Check-in

I stopped by the hive Thursday after work to check on the queen. She was out of the cage already! There was a large ball of bees on the middle frames, and I could feel the heat they generated. However, I couldn't see how much comb they had made, because the bees were in the way. They were eating the pollen patty and had eaten about half of the sugar syrup. I topped up the syrup and put the lid back on. I noticed there was a LOT of bee droppings all over the hive. I am worried they might be sick, but after talking with Mike, they may just have let loose once they were out of the package!

I checked the hive again the following Thursday evening. The bees were buzzing happily. There were 3 frames of bees, and they had started to make comb. I am really taken with how white the fresh, new honeycomb is. I gave them some more sugar syrup, but they were not eating much of the pollen patty. I left it on, but will probably take it out next week. It was chilly, so I didn't take any frames out to look for eggs and larva, but I expect the queen is there, and has started laying. We will see next time.