Peachy Bees

I'm just starting out in March of 2026 as an Atlanta bee keeper. This blog is to track my learning and overall bee keeping journey. I'll be posting reviews of resources (books, podcasts, classes I take), reviews of supplies I try out, and documenting my hive inspections here.

[atlbees]

Riverdale hive working on some capped honey 🍯

[atlbees]

I listened to this book last week about wasps. I really love when books are narrated by the authors. She talks a lot about evolution and biology of wasps and other related insects, but she also talks a lot about how they contribute to our agricultural systems and basically how they deserve the same kind of passion and research we give to honey bees.

[atlbees]

Hive Inspections: 5/2/26

I finally tidied up the weeds and swept away the piles of dead bees so I can see better what's going on and get a nice blank slate for the week. It's been raining a ton and a bit colder so I was worried I wouldnt get a chance but on Saturday it finally cleared up mid afternoon.

Weather/time of day: I started around 1pm, it was finally clear skies and low 60s.

Who got stung: no one 🌈

We started with the RiverVale Hive:

Queen: Veronica

Saw the queen: No, I did look for her but once I saw eggs I wasn't too worried 🤷‍♀️

Saw fresh eggs: Yes, in several frames

Saw uncapped larva: Yes, at different stages. All looked white and healthy

Saw capped brood: Yes, brood pattern still wasn't amazing but M said not to worry about that for a while.

Pests: I saw a ton of dead/imprisoned small hive beetles. Before in this hive I has squished a few live ones so I wonder if the new bees are just better at catching them. I didnt see any live pests.

Then we moved onto the RiverDale Hive:

Queen: Beety Cooper

Saw the queen: Yes, she was on my green drone frame.

Saw fresh eggs: Yes

Saw uncapped larva: Yes

Saw capped brood: Yes

Pests: None, and way less ants at the base around the blocks.

I did move some frames around a bit to encourage them to fill them out a bit better and move to the edges and not just the middle frames. They are starting to make some frames of just honey in the very top which is exciting.

This video isn't great but you can see some drones making their way out of their cells. I ended up leaving this frame out for a bit so the new bees could get out and then I replaced it with a regular frame. The more I read about it the more I just worry I'm creating a varroa factory. And even though I have made my peace with doing the alchol washes I still dont love the idea of uncapping their babies to look for mites.. maybe I'll change my mind again at a later date but for now neither hive has the green drone frames.

My helper asked if she could try holding one of the frames by herself. She's held a frame before during her Jr. Beekeeping course she took with MABA but that was very fast and with a random colony. I love how much she loves them.

[atlbees]

Okay these first two pictures are the underneath (both hives have screened bottom boards rn) and directly in front of the RiverVale hive. It has been raining a ton so I havent gotten to get in there yet 🙃

These two are underneath and directly in front of the RiverDale Hive. I know the grass is getting insane... I will try to pull it up this weekend. Even with the grass in the way though I feel like the huge difference in dead bees is obvious.

[atlbees]

Just some thoughts: 4/28/26

This weekend I was out of town and I was told to give the bees (specifically the RiverVale Hive) about a week before bothering them again so that Veronica can settle in and start laying. We left for our trip on Thursday so before that I did just open the top to make sure she had been released from the queen cage. I also smashed a hive beetle that was crawling around the top. I did not check for eggs because it was later in the day and they were kinda angry with me (I also just killed their previous queen less than a week before so I wouldn't blame them for not trusting me for a while).

Yesterday when I got home from work around 8pm I just went out to see if they were bringing in pollen. Neither colony seemed to be. The RV hive once again has a lot more dead bees out front than the RD hive. I wish I had taken a picture... everyone keeps telling me not to mind the dead bees because that's super normal but I cant help but note the difference between the two hives. I am hoping the new genetics are a bit more hygienic and maybe they are just cleaning house from Cheryl's mess.

I also noticed that below the RiverDale Hive there is a significant amount of debris; pollen, wax capping, nothing really concerning though I do think it's attracting ants - but the RiverVale hive does not have any of this underneath! So maybe I will put the sticky boards under them again for a few days and see if that gives me any more... no one in any of my bee groups seems to care about the debris or the dead bees or anything that I'm noticing as a new beekeeper so maybe none of it is important 🙃

[atlbees]

I started this book today that's been on my list for a while and its SO good.

It's basically this entomologist explaining stinging insects; everything from how they evolved, to how painful their defensive mechanisms are, to how they taste. I'm not even half way through so I will edit this post when I finish it. First impressions though it is very fun and informative (I feel like I'm learning so much about ants).

[atlbees]

Okay I finished this book basically the next day. My friends and family are getting sick of my talking about it. Everyone has asked me if it's the guy from YouTube/tiktok that stings himself with everything - it is not, but I think he is referencing the pain scale used in this book. This has definitely led me down a wasp rabbit hole and I am so fascinated by this whole world of insects that I feel like I should've already known more about? Idk why I've always been into bees and their biology and social lives but somehow have made it this far learning basically nothing about wasps besides like knowing they are predators 🤷‍♀️

All that to say, highly recommend 👌

[atlbees]

I started this book today that's been on my list for a while and its SO good.

It's basically this entomologist explaining stinging insects; everything from how they evolved, to how painful their defensive mechanisms are, to how they taste. I'm not even half way through so I will edit this post when I finish it. First impressions though it is very fun and informative (I feel like I'm learning so much about ants).

[atlbees]

Hive inspection/intervention: 4/18/26

I've already written this post like twenty times and then Tumblr like loses it somehow so idk I'm gonna try to remember everything.

On Saturday morning the guy I originally got my bees from (M) came over with basically a new nuc and a new caged queen to replace Cheryl. We went ahead and inspected both colonies together and then installed the new bees.

We started with the RiverDale Hive:

Queen: Beety Cooper

Weather / time of day: Around 9:30am. The high for the day was mid 80s I think but it wasn't too hot yet when we started; the ground was still kinda wet in that early morning way.

Saw the queen: No, I fear I will never spot her again. She is so elusive.

Saw fresh eggs: Yes - some even all the way up in their top super which M said was a good sign of Beety's health

Saw uncapped larva: Yes - some of varying stages

Weather / time of day:

Saw capped brood: Yes - they are just starting to cap that frame of drone brood. M said to be careful not to kill all of their drones and to start by just testing a portion of them at a time.

Who got stung: both of us, but I think I got stung while I was cleaning up at the end

Pests: None seen today.

M agreed that this colony overall looks really healthy.

Then we moved onto the RiverVale Hive:

Queen: Introducing Veronica! She came in a queen cage with a few attendants. It was crazy how much smaller she was than Cheryl just because she hasnt been laying

Saw fresh eggs: Yes - some old ones from Cheryl and some on the new frames we installed

Saw uncapped larva: Yes - however, most of this was on the infected frame and had to be thrown away

Saw capped brood: Yes - lots from the new frames, ready to submerge and boost the population

Pests: None seen today

This is the set up he brought over.

In the serval days I've been fighting with tumblr to post this, I actually checked on the RV hive today after work (4/21/26) to confirm Veronica had been released. I did not do a full inspection but the cage was empty so I'm choosing to take that as a good sign

Wish them luck!

[atlbees]

RIP Cheryl Blossom 😔

Today I had to kill Cheryl... the guy I got my bees from is bringing me a new queen and several frames of bees tomorrow to hopefully save this colony. He suggested I go ahead and take her out today so they are more willing to accept a new queen.

I pulled out the scariest looking frame and after I brushed as many bees off as I could (they hated that) I took some pictures

I also tried to do the rope test for AFB. Based on the pictures and videos I've seen, I dont think this is ropey enough for AFB. Of course I dont have a good frame of reference. I think it's probably EFB, but it doesnt smell at all which is supposed to be a pretty common symptom 🤷‍♀️

I'm putting the video of my test under the cut because it's a bit yucky if you don't want to watch. I'm also including a picture of poor dead Cheryl...

Would it be too morbid to like put in her in resin or otherwise preserve her somehow? Honestly the more I deal with bees the more I understand the vegans that don't eat honey..

[atlbees]

Hive inspection: 4/14/26

I'm posting this late because I low key forgot...

RiverDale Hive

Queen: Beety Cooper

Weather / time of day: I did this hive second so probably around 5pm. Hot af outside, I was sweating.

Saw the queen: no 👎

Saw fresh eggs: yes!

Saw uncapped larva: yes - they've pretty much filled up the green drone frame and still have a solid bit of worker brood working

Saw capped brood: yes - mostly worker brood, some capped drones at the bottoms of the regular frames

Who got stung: no one 🌈

Pests: None seen today

Look at how cute my helper is. She loves these bees so much. She's decided she no longer wants to be the camera girl and wishes to be in charge of the smoker as often as possible.

Some brand new comb they've drawn up this past week. Mostly full of nectar. It's so pretty.

This frame was all capped honey! Even though they havent totally finished drawing out the wax.

You cant see the larva from this photo but I was also just amazed how much wax they drew up on this completely plastic frame in just a week. I feel like they filled this up even better than they've filled up some of the wax coated plastic foundation I've given them... obviously their favorite is the completely wax foundation though.

[atlbees]

Hive Inspection: 4/14/2026

RiverVale Hive

Queen: Cheryl Blossom

Weather / time of day: Sunny and hot out (maybe in the mid-high 70's). Started around 4:30pm

Saw the queen: Yes! This was a relief because she she likes to hide from me

Saw fresh eggs: yes

Saw uncapped larva: yes, though one frame had some brown/dead larva inside. It did not smell, but definitely didnt look great

Saw capped brood: yes, though not much. A few drone cells and a bit of worker brood but barely on even two frames. Very spotty pattern.

Who got stung: no one 🌈

Pests: None seen

I'm putting pictures and more details under the cut because it's a decent bit.

I'm including a picture of the ground in front of the colony to show how many dead bees have been out front. A lot of them are in-between the pavers. I'm not seeing any signs of deformed wing virus.

After initially checking on this colony I reached out to the guy who sold me my nucs to see if he had any suggestions or thoughts about what I saw. We spoke on the phone and he told me to take a bunch of pictures for him of what I was seeing.

I've discovered its really difficult to take pictures of frames (usually I screenshot from a video). I have the little frame things to set your frame on but I guess I need to look up how to use them 😅

Can you see the dead larva in there?

I was scared for EFB but he said usually it would smell weird if that was the case. He said he thinks the queen is failing but isn't totally sure why so he suggested just replacing her. He's going to come by on Saturday with a new queen and a few frames of bees to make up for lost time (his words).

This colony does have a few frames worth of nectar and pollen stored but it's so obvious when comparing them to the RD hive that they are struggling.

I did put a tray of the Thymol treatment in there... just in case 🤷‍♀️ part of me is wondering if I should take it out but part of me is also thinking if mites didn't cause this situation, their presence certainly isn't helping it... If he says to take it out this weekend I will. They had not really built on their top box so I did move one frame that looked to be mostly resources but had a good bit of bees on it up there and moved down one of the empty frames of just wax foundation.

RIP Cheryl 😔

[atlbees]

First picture is the RiverVale hive, second is RiverDale.

This weekend I am going to be out of town so I wont be able to do my inspection when I usually do. I am afraid of the worst case where I leave and my roomate has to deal with the hives like swarming or something and scaring our neighbors. Based on what I saw this past weekend I think the RiverDale Hive might be solid for a tiny bit more space, and the RiverVale Hive I think will benefit from the wax foundations instead of the plastic foundations that was in their second box. These new boxes are each eight frames of wax foundation and two frames of plastic foundation. So I bottom supered the RD hive, leaving their medium at the top since they already have some nectar stored up there. I just traded out the medium for a deep on the RV hive since they didnt have anything really built yet in their medium.

I have been so excited to put these boxes on! I bought a ton of Archie comics and mod podged the images on and topped it with a clear coat to protect them from the weather (at least for a little while).

Notice how the weeds have already grown straight through my gravel...

Some close ups from before I took them outside.

Wish them luck 🩷

[atlbees]

An undertaker bee pushing her sister out of the RiverDale Hive this evening 😔

I watched her do this for a kind of a long time..

[atlbees]

Hive inspection: 4/4/26

I did both hives in one day 🐝

RiverDale Hive

Queen: Beety Cooper

Weather / time of day: I did this hive second so it was at least 4pm. Hot and sunny, wind on and off

Saw the queen: no

Saw fresh eggs: yes! Lots

Saw uncapped larva: Yes

Saw capped brood: Yes, beautiful brood pattern on several frames

Who got stung: no one 🌈

Pests: None seen today

My daughter came out to help for the RiverDale Hive. She did the smoker a bit for me but mostly asked me a lot of questions. I love how much she loves the bees.

Honestly I think this hive is doing really well. I saw brood at all stages of development. They have started putting nectar up in the top box. We added the green drone comb in the bottom box. We also put in some hive beetle traps in both hives

[atlbees]

Hive inspection: 4/4/26

RiverVale Hive

Queen: Cheryl Blossom

Weather / time of day: srarted around 3:30pm. A tiny bit of wind on and off, it was overcast this morning but sunny and warm by the time I started

Saw the queen: no 👎

Saw fresh eggs: yes

Saw uncapped larva: yes

Saw capped brood: yes.. but again I didnt see incredible pattern

Who got stung: no one 🌈

Pests: none in or around the hive, I did a mite wash wash tho and found 2 varroa out of at least 300 bees (possibly more like 400 though, I did not do it well 😬)

Today I took out the feeders and put in these green drone brood frames into both hives. The idea is that the bees will put drone brood on them because the cells are a bit bigger and then we basically just steal them as soon as they are capped and check them for varroa/dispose of them. The varroa are supposed to prefer the drone brood because they have more fat bodies to feed off of. We'll see how it goes.

They have not done much of anything in their top box yet. There were definitely bees up there, they just haven't really started on the comb at all

I'm afraid this colony hates me.

I did not do a great job with my first attempt at an alcohol wash for varroa... I feel like the videos I've seen make ot seem way easier.

[atlbees]

The day before yesterday (so on 3/30) I put a sticky board under the RiverVale Hive. I did this because over the weekend I felt like the brood pattern wasn't amazing and I saw a hive beetle so I wanted to see what would fall. Yesterday evening (3/31) I pulled it out to see what was there. One dead bee - idk how she got there honestly, she must have been trapped under the hive before I put the tray in... but she had a live varroa mite on her. I found two other varroa mites on the paper and one small hive beetle. He flew away before I could squish him, which was frustrating. I ordered some aipguard so this weekend I will do the first mite wash and likely treat both hives.

I had some trouble deciding what type of treatment to go with. I used the Honeybee health coalition's website to see what my options were. Since this is only my first time treating them I decided to see how well a more "natural" method works before jumping to the harsher chemical options. I know you are supposed to rotate treatment types so I'll try to keep a good record of what I use and how well everything works.

[atlbees]

Hive Inspection: 3/29/26

RiverVale Hive

Queen: Cheryl Blossom

Weather / time of day: it was kinda overcast, the weather said it was like 60-62° but in retrospect I think it felt colder. I started around 2:30pm.

Saw the queen: Yes! Tiny blue dot marker on her back. Super super yellow.

Saw fresh eggs: no

Saw uncapped larva: yes

Saw capped brood: yes - pattern seemed a bit spotty, but it wasn't super easy to see with so many bees home

Who got stung: no one, though I probably deserved to be

Pests: Saw one hive beetle

I did not have a great time today, and honestly am feeling a bit discouraged. I think I really need to find someone who wouldn't mind me watching them do a hive inspection in person because I feel like all the videos I watch just aren't helping. Maybe it was the weather, but I felt like there were just so many bees up at the top of the frames I was having a super hard time grabbing any. And truthfully I think i am a bit afraid of being stung again (which I know I need to get over) and that was just making today more difficult. I did see the queen for the first time in this hive which was great.

Can you tell just how freaking many bees there were? After squishing a few yesterday when I was changing out the bottom board I think I was also just a little extra afraid of hurting them today. From what I could see of the brood pattern it didnt look amazing. And I saw a hive beetle which was gross and discouraging. I probably need to hurry up and test them for varroa. I have been scared to, for a few reasons, but just based on the brood maybe they need a treatment?

This frame was the previously empty one that I put in the middle last time. This is the frame that had the queen on it.