Colony #1 and Colony #2 continue their growth at an amazing rate! South Florida FINALLY received some well needed rain and the plants began to bloom again. Today's hive inspection came as the worst type: surprise. Contrary to popular belief, there never were many (if any) surprise inspections at the Coast Guard Academy...except that one time I got busted with having DVDs in my room as a freshman (pure contraband as a freshman...the movies?
Master and Commander and
The Nightmare Before Christmas). Alas, I digress.
Purpose must be present during every hive inspection. Today's inspection looked for continued growth...new brood development (that is where the bees make more bees...like a little bee nursery). The comb is getting drawn out in the new frames and there is new nectar/honey/royal jelly stores in the hives! Oh, and did I mention...
I SAW A QUEEN TODAY!!!!!!!!
Yeah, no big deal. Just kidding! I was so excited I almost dropped the frame she was on! She is much bigger than the other bees...it was AMAZING!
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| Colony #2: The honeybees are drawing out comb! You can also see bits of food they have stored. |
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| Colony #1: Worker brood. This is good stuff since these bees are the future survival of this colony! |
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| Colony #2: Straight on shot of new comb! |
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| Colony #1: Another shot of worker brood. |
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| Colony #2: Ladies and Gentlemen, I am proud to introduce you to the queen! Not gonna lie, she is HUGE! I am so proud. The shot is blurry as she tried to escape back to shade. |
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| Colony #1 |
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| The smoker...ready to rock (see, I did learn a lesson). |
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| Colony #2 |
As always, I appreciate the comments, jokes, and questions both verbally and through email. It appears the next box on Colony #2 will be a honey super! I think we still have a bit of expansion to do with Colony #1. Of course, I cannot make this call...it is all up to the royal highness...the QUEEN!!!!!!
We have officially created a business to cover the bees and their products when we start producing. Introducing... Bueno Bees, LLC. With that, please feel free to email me at: buenobees@gmail.com
Also, I am sad to report that a bee lost its life today in my pants. Yes, she climbed up, I smacked her to prevent any higher exploration, and my thigh rightfully received a nice sting. It wasn't too bad since I inherited thunder thighs (from dad) and barely felt it.
Have a wonderful weekend, and keep an eye out for your favorite little pollinators!
Two colonies, populated by thousands of busy little bees... I would call one London and the other Paris, in deference to Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. Or perhaps Minneapolis and St. Paul (the Twin Cities). Or if one turns out better honey and is populated by cooler bees, call that one America and the other one Canada....
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