Another Quick Bee Check

I went out to take out the bottom board insert from the little hive in case we pick up a swarm. It's too hot to leave that in. I checked inside because there's been some activity, but there were only a few dozen bees and they are probably robbers cleaning out whatever stores were there. 

We still hope to attract a swarm although it's getting late for that. But we'll see. I checked all the other hives to make sure they have enough room and they are all okay, so no need to add any boxes. 

No ants, no wax moths -- that's good news.

In another week or two we'll check again to see if the three active hives are queen-right. We know one hive is. The other two are iffy. But they have lots of bees and they are busy.

June 15: Bee Inspection -- Good News/Bad News

Well, the bad news first. The swarm hive left. Hardly any bees -- probably all robbers. Still a little capped brood in a few frames but we expect that will result in nothing since there won't be any nurse bees to take care of it. Anya, the next hive, has a queen cell, probably from the frame of eggs and brood we put in last time, but the hive may already have had a queen since there was a little brood in another frame. So that hive is hopeful

We are on the beekeepers roller coaster!

Up and down. One minute things look great, the next, not so good! Here's how it's been going this season in the Camp Kreitzer apiary:

May 16th -- Just did a bee check. All well, except for ants, but not so many I'd call the hives infested. Will probably weed whack and put down diatomaceous earth around the stand legs. Busy, busy bees. None of the hives needs a new box yet, but the second box from the top on the middle hive was so heavy I couldn't lift it and Larry was out so I was on my own. Looks like we will definitely get some honey from that hive even though it's the new one. And if we can retrieve the swarm from our garage ceiling we will have four hives this season. That would be great!