Batten Down the Hatches! Here comes Irene.

As Hurricane Irene made landfall over North Carolina this morning, we were busy little bees ourselves preparing for the coming storm.

As bees do not fly in the rain, I made sure the feeder was full on the Sasha hive. (The OV hive has plenty of honey.) Forecast calls for a possible 10" of rain and sustained winds of 60 to85 MPH. I'm sure the hives will not blow over, but to be on the safe side we put a couple of cement paving stones on top, adding another 25 lbs. Now we're really sure the hives will not blow over. :-)

Rain is expect to begin within the next couple of hours with the worst of the storm to hit our area about 2AM. It is going to be a bumpy night but will keep a watchful eye on the hives and pending a tree falling on them, they'll be safe and sound.

Visitors at the Hive

My special friends Sara, Leah, Alex and Macallan came by today. As you can see, we had a blast learning about the bees! They met a drone, watched a bee as it emerged, saw the queen and had a taste of honey fresh off the frame.

I've not inspected the Sasha hive for 2 1/2 weeks, letting the new queen settle in and matures in her laying so was very happy with the first frame I pulled from the middle box. Look at the wonderful brood pattern! Other frames had less covered brood but there were lots of eggs in the cells. I did not inspect the bottom box and the frames of the top box still have yet to be drawn into comb. The bees are feeding well from the top feeder, taking nearly a gallon of sugar syrup every 2 days. Overall, I'm really happy with the new queen.

Have not been in the OV hive since we harvested the honey over the 4th of July weekend. It is well glued together with propolis, sticky from our warm weather as I pulled a frame of honey for the kids. They're doing well and I'll do a full inspection when the weather turns cooler.

The Old Queen is Gone - Long Live (and Lay) Sasha II

Nice brood pattern found on the one frame and Sasha II is looking lovely in the center of the top bar of the frame. Other frames in that box have a mixture of scattered larvae and covered brood. The bottom box has less covered brood but a nice amount of larvae and no sign of Sasha I. Looks like the bees have decided that Sasha II is working out after all.