first time bee keeper

[beebrave]

Hi Bee source!

My name is Sean i am a greenhorn organic farmer and beekeeper in Lake County, CA. My friend and i built a Kenyan Top Bar hive and i collected my first
swarm July 1st 2010. very exciting! i have since learned that the first step was the easy one and i still have so much to learn. Currently working on more KTBH
for the spring swarms of 2011.
I look forward to sharing here and learning with ya'll.
bzzzz.
sean mooney

[beebrave]

Here are some recent photos from the hive.
http://picasaweb.google.com/mooneyma...eat=directlink
not sure what i am looking at, but some things concerned me.
little white specks in honey. could be ant eggs or fungal?
the tan glossy material in the uncapped cells.
what is that? anyone know?

thanks for any constructive thoughts.

[bjoynes]

Welcome Sean,

And thanks for the wonderful pictures. Love the ant in the comb.

Best Regards

Bryn

[AmericasBeekeeper]

Welcome Sean. Those little specks are eggs and larva in royal jelly. The tan glossy is pollen they covered with honey. Your queen is a busy girl.

[S&H]

Welcome! From a neighbor to the South a few miles...

[dragonfly]

Hi beebrave, and welcome to Beesource.

[AstroBee]

Are you talking about the white crusty stuff on the face of the comb around the cells - like that shown in your photo 14? If so, it is not honeybee eggs. I've seen that before, typically in a very small colonies, but I'm not sure what it is. Perhaps you can post it to the Diseases and Pests forum and get a proper ID. At this time of year, I wouldn't be too concerned unless you have SHB or overrun with ants.

[KQ6AR]

Welcome, nice pictures.
Don't let those ants get out of control, they can drive a weak hive crazy.

[beebrave]

Thank you all for the encouraging words!
i tend to think the worst when i dont know what i am looking at.
Getting your input is very helpful. I will pass these photos into
the pest and disease forum.
and a big "hey-o" to those near by in CA , did you enjoy the last few days of
sunshine?!

[beebrave]

[beebrave]

do bees lay more than one egg in each cell? because it looks like multiple "eggs"

[WI-beek]

Not under normal healthy colony behavior. Search the internet for laying workers.

Here is one link

http://www.bushfarms.com/beeslayingworkers.htm

[AmericasBeekeeper]

The white flaky or "crusty stuff" is fresh wax scales. Multiple eggs or eggs deposited on the side of the cell are laying workers, as mentioned. My eyes are not that good any more. The hive looks good except for the multiple eggs and lack of good brood. You always need to look for what is not there as much as what is there.

[S&H]

"... to those near by in CA , did you enjoy the last few days of
sunshine? ..."

Haven't seen the sun in about a week (it's been foggy, damp and cold), but I hear that sunshine and warmer temperatures are coming soon!

[KQ6AR]

We just got some sun, & 60F temps today.
Finally

[Josh Carmack]

I couldn't tell if that was all the frames you had, or were those the ones you took pictures of. I saw where a brood pattern used to be but saw NO eggs, and no brood, capped or otherwise. The white flecks and powdery looking substance was unworked wax flakes. In other words the workers had not chewed it and formed it as it needed to be to build comb with. You'll see that a lot on a swarm that hung out in one place for more than a few hours. Eggs, rather they are from a laying worker or a good queen will look like miniature white rice. Just about ten times smaller than rice kernels. Once you spot a good egg/brood pattern it gets easier to do. If that's was all the frames that colony has, it needs a queen, probably not much you can do for that this time of year.

Keep in mind I'm no expert, and I was only looking at pictures you had, there can be a lot more told to you by someone in your area that can pull the frames and look with you.