Earlier this morning, I opened up my Warre hive.
The workers had released the queen and were already building comb as shown in the above picture.
The queen is already laying eggs and was surrounded, several bees deep, by her protective workers. Since I don’t want to disturb the honeybees anymore than absolutely necessary, after filling the top bar feeders, I closed up the hive and counted my blessings. I’m very happy that the honeybees have decided to stay.
I must say that I’m glad that I ordered the large bee suit (I wear a small). I’m able to put my regular clothes on under the suit and still have plenty of room.
Yesterday, is when I’d originally planned on doing my first beehive inspection, however the day long rain put a stop to that. This morning, seeing clear skies, I promptly headed out to the hive to get the inspection out of the way. In total, I was in the hive less than five minutes. As I’ve already mentioned, I don’t want to disrupt the honeybees more than I have too. I want to be as hands-free as possible.
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Q – Wonderful! What an interesting photo of the bees making honeycomb. Your suit is definitely the newest fashion rage.
curls and q recently posted..Take That Birds!
@curls and q, I know right, I had the wrong lens, otherwise I’d have had a much better picture. However, there will be plenty of time to correct that blunder. 😉 The suit is sweltering! I guess wearing a layer of clothing under the suit is not helping reduce the heat, lol. I want all the protection I can get in case they want to get sting happy.
Aynaria recently posted..Adventures in Beekeeping: Early morning “inspection”
How exciting! I would love to get some bees, but am a little concerned about the small space we have and how they would do in it. Plus, living in Maine, I am pretty much convinced they wouldn’t make it through the winter…they must have at some point though, right?
Heather recently posted..protecting my garden from pests
Hi @Heather, Honeybees don’t need too much space. In fact, there are “urban beekeepers” who have honeybees. On one of the bee forums (Bee Master International) I frequent, the owner lives in a development, without, a lot of space. He has shared some of his photos and the neighbors house was right next door. Honeybees can adapt in cold weather. There are different races of honeybees. I have the Italians, there is one in particular that is suited for extremely cold climates but at the moment the race slips my mind. You have beekeepers in Maine, there’s the Maine State Beekeepers Association.
Aynaria recently posted..Natural Beekeeping/Gardening: Culling pests
Awesome stuff! Keep it comin’! I’m learning so much!
Jennifer recently posted..I’m Alive – Life Has Gotten In The Way!
Thanks @Jennifer, I’m yapping about them more since I finally have them. Before it was all book knowledge/chatting with other beekeepers and now I get to apply and learn by having my own honeybees. There’s still so much to learn as a new beekeeper and I know I’ll make mistakes, and that’s fine. It feels awesome! 😉
Aynaria recently posted..Adventures in Beekeeping: They’re here!