For those of you living far away, it's time to get acquainted with this year's bees.
We have two colonies for this summer, which we've named Cleopatra and Nefertiti.
They arrived just two weeks ago, in "nuc" boxes that hold about enough to fill half of a brood box-- which is one of the deep boxes on the bottom of the hive, where the queen lays and the workers raise brood. Within a week after we'd installed them, to my astonishment the brood box in Nefertiti was totally full, so we added a 2nd. On Saturday we did another inspection.
It was a beautiful sunny morning, and as I approached the hives-- accompanied by Bridget, the official staff photographer-- there was plenty of activity at the entrance of Nefertiti (the blue hive).
We smoked them, and the bees mostly withdrew into the hives. But you can see a lone drone hanging out on the entry-board to Cleopatra.
When we'd first installed them, we had given them feeders (the upside-down jar). They were completely empty, but they'd done their job. There's plenty of pollen for the bees now.
When we opened Cleopatra we found a nice healthy colony: plenty of activity even after we'd smoked them back off the top. (Don't ask me how that oak leaf got inside the hive.)
But again Nefertiti was even more impressive. The 1st brood box was completely full; the 2nd one coming along nicely. (That's the 2nd one on the bottom; you add a new one below the 1st one, because the queen tends to move downward as she lays.**) We added a "super" so that they can get to work producing honey for us.
By the way, see how a few bees are showing up at the entrance again, in the picture above? The camera doesn't catch it, but all the while, as you're working on the hives, there's a constant buzz around you.
It's unsettling at first; then you learn to relax and it becomes a pleasant sound-- a bit like waves on the shore: loud but not offensive. And the buzz says a lot; if it starts to rise in pitch, you know it's time to finish up and get out of there.
Want to see what a full frame of brood looks like? Here's a really busy one.
And then here's another, not quite so full, but in better light.
That's all for this week. Maybe next time we'll see the beginning of the comb for our honey.
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** (Edit added much later:) Sorry; I was misinformed. The queen tends to move up as she lays. Somehow I had got things wrong, so I thought it would be clever to add an empty brood chamber on the bottom. It wasn't such a bright idea. But the bees sorted things out eventually and filled both boxes anyway.
...I woke up and realized...this is the day I start my life for real...
Monday was the funeral of Phil's mom, Mary. She had a long life and died a peaceful death. She will be much missed!
There he is in the middle group of boys, with the black shirt under his robe. See him?
Listening to Amazing Grace...yes, at a public high school!
I was proud of Will for removing his cap during the singing of the National Anthem. If you click on the picture, you can see him on the right side on the aisle in the middle.
He made it. Off to Villanova in the fall! Congratulations, Will! (and Mom, and Pop :)
I apologize for not posting sooner about this news!
I can't believe it's taken me so long -- chalk it up to being distracted.
Above you will see why we love Natasha so much. She's just a great person! There she is at her parents' house, very soon after being popped The Question.
Here you have the best picture I could find of the ring, and if you are like me, you really want to know! (I just love jewelry, don't you?)
But the picture I most want to show my grandchildren is this one:
has some spunk!
