I did my first inspection ever today and as part of my record keeping I took some photos. I installed two packages in my hives last Friday and I had yet to go in and check if the queens were released. Between work and the rain I just hadn't gotten to it until today. I had left a large space on one side of the center frame so the workers would have better access to the queen cage that I had rubber banded to the side. I was worried about how much brace comb I was going to have to scrape off after 8 days. So before we left for Easter brunch today I suited up and made a quick inspection.
I had a little trepidation about starting the smoker but it turned out to be no problem. Admittedly I cheated a little by dropping a small piece of a fire starter wax cube in with the wood chips. That seemed to get it going no problem.
Once I got the outer cover off on the first hive, removed the feeder and got a look down through the inner cover, I could see that yes, there was going to be some brace comb.
I took the top cover off without any issues; the hive tool wasn't even needed. But I was a little surprised by just how much "brace" comb there was. I now can understand why people go foundation-less. The bees had made an almost complete comb running down the middle of the hive. It was a beautiful pure white and fortunately it didn't seem to have any eggs or stores in it yet.
I scraped this thing of beauty off the bottom of the inner cover and put it next to the hive. I'm not sure if the bees will reclaim the wax or if I should just make myself a small bee's wax candle.
I continued the inspection and everything looked pretty good to my eyes. The outer two frames on each side of the eight frames had nothing on them except the trace beginnings of being drawn out. But the next two frames were about a third of the way drawn out.
The center four were each about 50 percent of the way drawn out. And thankfully the queen cage was empty and the queen was released.
When looking around the center most frames I spotted her majesty tending to her duties. She was a lovely dark color and was easily twice as long as the other bees.
She seemed to sense I was checking her out and quickly slipped to the other side of the frame. Long live the queen!
The second hive was much like the first. A nearly complete comb hanging in the space next to the queen cage. This one was stiff enough to support itself when I set the inner cover down.
The frames were drawn out much as the first hive had been but I didn't see the queen in this hive. I did however see some capped cells. I'm not sure if these are brood or capped stores. Can anyone else tell from this pic? They were on the center frames, so I am hoping brood.
I had to cut the second inspection short as I was now officially late for Easter brunch and my wife was getting irate. I didn't see any eggs but didn't really look hard for them. That's something I'll have to concentrate on in my next inspection.
I had a little trepidation about starting the smoker but it turned out to be no problem. Admittedly I cheated a little by dropping a small piece of a fire starter wax cube in with the wood chips. That seemed to get it going no problem.
Once I got the outer cover off on the first hive, removed the feeder and got a look down through the inner cover, I could see that yes, there was going to be some brace comb.
I took the top cover off without any issues; the hive tool wasn't even needed. But I was a little surprised by just how much "brace" comb there was. I now can understand why people go foundation-less. The bees had made an almost complete comb running down the middle of the hive. It was a beautiful pure white and fortunately it didn't seem to have any eggs or stores in it yet.
I scraped this thing of beauty off the bottom of the inner cover and put it next to the hive. I'm not sure if the bees will reclaim the wax or if I should just make myself a small bee's wax candle.
I continued the inspection and everything looked pretty good to my eyes. The outer two frames on each side of the eight frames had nothing on them except the trace beginnings of being drawn out. But the next two frames were about a third of the way drawn out.
The center four were each about 50 percent of the way drawn out. And thankfully the queen cage was empty and the queen was released.
When looking around the center most frames I spotted her majesty tending to her duties. She was a lovely dark color and was easily twice as long as the other bees.
She seemed to sense I was checking her out and quickly slipped to the other side of the frame. Long live the queen!
The second hive was much like the first. A nearly complete comb hanging in the space next to the queen cage. This one was stiff enough to support itself when I set the inner cover down.
The frames were drawn out much as the first hive had been but I didn't see the queen in this hive. I did however see some capped cells. I'm not sure if these are brood or capped stores. Can anyone else tell from this pic? They were on the center frames, so I am hoping brood.
I had to cut the second inspection short as I was now officially late for Easter brunch and my wife was getting irate. I didn't see any eggs but didn't really look hard for them. That's something I'll have to concentrate on in my next inspection.
