First Inspection of the Hive

It was a real treat checking the hive for the first time today! The girls were quite calm and busily doing their thing while I checked each frame. The center most where the queen cage had been now has eggs, larva and covered brood! The comb is pretty much drawn out on the inner most frames with pollen and nectar (or is is sugar water?) stored in them. The outer six frames (three on each side) have not yet been drawn out.

We could easily spot the queen, thanks to her marking but even without the mark, her size gives her away. I was really surprised at the amount of eggs and larva present. The industrious bees get right to work when installed in their new home.

Enjoyed watching a couple of bees doing the waggle dance which is used as a means to communicate the location of a good source of nectar or pollen. The waggle dance is performed by first shaking quickly from side to side and then doing one half of a figure eight, returning to the starting point and pausing to shake again before doing the other half of the figure eight. The shaking, direction of the figure eight and length of the dance transmit to the field bees exactly where they can find this particular source of food.