Stocking my Observation Hive!

The time has come!  Spring has arrived early with heat & sun, the bees in the Langstroth hive in the yard made it through the mild winter in good health & expansive numbers.  Upon inspection they were found to have frame upon frame of brood in 3 levels, and about 20 sealed swarm cells.  Timely inspection!


The weather was a warm 69 degrees and sunny, but windier than ideal, so we worked quickly, trying to shield the brood from exposure.

I selected 2 deep frames of brood, pollen & honey, and because of the abundance, a medium frame which has some brood, including some nice plump drone cells, and another medium frame which is mostly honey, much of it capped.  There are pollen stores in each of the frames.

The observation hive is now full of bees and in the house!  We think that we left the queen in the original hive, although with the wind, we did not take time to be certain.  Each hive has brood in all stages and some queen cups.  The bees made tentative explorations, with some finding the exit and returning after short flights.  A sugar syrup feeder is installed, but not getting much attention.

Observing my Observation Hive

My word of the day is "festooning"!  I had never witnessed the bees dangling from each others legs, forming long chains and lace networks.  Apparently this is associated with wax production.

The bees are busy little things, and set right out to remodel their new surroundings.  They built a series of cells deeper, until they touched the plexiglas of the hive. and then chewed back through their handiwork.  They attached some of the brood cells to the glass as well, including a queen cup that gets constant attention.  Since I very seldom have a chance to see the cup without a bee inside it, I am optimistic that it may be of value to the hive.

I really need to work on the 'how' of getting pictures without a lot of glare.

Some of the pearly white brood can be seen here, for the moment without nurse bees tending.

In the picture below, you can see the usual view of little bee butts sticking out of cells, as they are busy about tending the depths.