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.