Added Third Brood Box

The feeder was nearly empty this morning but the bees were very calm during my inspection. It was a very warm day with the propolis sticky on the frames. It really is an experience to observe them as they go about the business of the hive.

The bottom box contains mostly honey, pollen, nectar and capped brood while the queen has been doing most of her laying in the upper box. I did spot the queen up there today. She's still marked by the white dot on her back and is visible in the center of this photo.

Only one small burr comb to remove from the bottom box but did have what was either the beginning of more burr comb or queen cells. I removed four which were in the very early stages of construction. I doubt they were queen cells but a hive needs food, ventilation and space to thrive and it was beginning to seem crowded in there. I also added ventilation by placing thin sticks under the top feeder and removed the entrance reducer.

Hungry Little Buggers

Hot today at 90 degrees with a bit of humidity but lots of bees coming and going from the hive. Checked the feeder to see they have nearly emptied it in just 3 days time! So many more mouths to feed!

First Peek at 2nd Brood Box

It is just amazing the progress that has occurred in only 9 days time! Not only is the hive noticeably busier with more and more of the bees now being the darker Russians, but they are going gang-busters in the second brood box with so many more bees to get the job done. Here is a lovely frame from the lower box that has capped brood, pollen and honey. :-)

I did not spot the queen today but there are plenty of eggs in both boxes and the brood has moved from being on the inner-most 3-4 frames out to nearly both sides of 5 frames.

While checking for queen cells I did spot this huge burr comb. Hated to remove as it sure is a thing of beauty but I know it will cause problems later if I don't. Nice brood pattern on this frame.

It was a textbook inspection. All looks good. Happy hive!

Second Brood Box Added

Its been 31 days since I installed the hive. While it was late this afternoon on a cool and cloudy day, tomorrow's forecast is for scattered showers so I needed to check the hive now. Otherwise I would need to wait over a week and I knew I was very close to needing the second brood box.

When I opened the hive it was very apparent how well the queen had been doing as the population sure had increased! A queen is capable of producing more than 1,500 eggs a day and it takes 21 days for a worker bee to hatch. With the hive hatching for 8-9 days now, that makes for potentially another 12,000 more bees than when installed! :-)

The four inner most frames have brood, the next two frames are loaded with pollen, nectar and now capped honey stores. The bees are just now starting to draw out the two outer most frames so it is definitely time for another brood box.

Here is a lovely picture of the third frame with the queen. She's been easy to spot not only because of the marking painted on her back and her larger size, but because of her darker coloring. She's my lovely Russian Queen! Looking around the hive you can easily spot the darker Russians that have hatched since installation. Eventually, the entire hive will be darker in color.

I started my inspection without wearing gloves but there were so many bees that they would walk right up my hands, which is really neat. But it becomes not so neat as the hive got agitated when I would scrape off the burr comb. Once I put on the gloves I was much more relaxed and could enjoy the experience of the bees walking all over me.

I didn't intend to spend too much time in the hive but while checking for supercedure cells I spotted this large burr comb hanging underneath a frame. This frame was the very first to have eggs. Look closely underneath all those bees and you will see the empty cells where they hatched. Some now have eggs and larvae, beginning the cycle all over again.

Once finished with the inspection and away from the hive, I could study the burr comb. You can see in the photo that the queen layed eggs on one side of the comb! No wonder the bees were not happy that I removed it!

Overall, I am really quite pleased with the progress of the hive. So far, the only thing different that I notice in using all medium supers is that the pollen and nectar on the brood frames seems to be a smaller area than how it is typically found on the deep frames. Will have to consult with those more experienced than I on this difference.

Second Inspection

Checked the hive this afternoon. The day was warm, humid and sunny with just a slight breeze. I had on a new white one-piece coverall utility suit that worked real fine as a beekeeping suit.

Smoked the girls, took off the cover and feeder, smoked again and peaked inside to see how things are going. The center three frames are full of eggs, larva and capped brood with nectar and honey above as in the picture here. Three more frames are nearly full with nectar and pollen with the outer four frames just starting to have drawn comb. I did have a bit of burr comb to remove from a spot on the frame and from the underside of the feeder.

This was also my first experience letting a bee crawl up from the hive onto my hand. A gentle urging with my finger turned her around and back into the hive she went. I applied the wiggling finger a few times to move a bee out of the way and enjoyed the gentle contact with them.

I did notice that the left side of the hive has more frames with drawn comb than the right side. Could that be due to the one side getting the late day sun where as the other doesn't? Because of this imbalance I did move the outer most empty frame from the right side of the hive to the left to give the girls a chance to work on it, added more sugar water to the feeder and closed up the hive.

Here is a nice picture of my pretty, dark Russian queen (She is marked by the white dot on her back.) I am so proud of how well she is doing!

Overall, I am very pleased with the progress of the hive and will probably be ready to add on the second super next week. While I am very comfortable with the amount of girls currently in the hive, I can't wait to see the expanded population next week as some are due to hatch any day now!