Mar 3, 2024
Still here!
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Still here!
Long time no post! How is everyone??? I moved!
The bees are *mostly* alright based on my most recent “checkup” and I’m only down one and a half colonies that I knew were already weak. One of them I suspect was taken out due to a leak in the lid that made the wood damp and less insulating. They must have left very early in the season because the bottom of the hive was FULL of wax moth cocoons and eggs and cockroach poop and all kinds of nastiness. I scraped it out and didn’t see any sign of lasting mold on the wood though so it mustn’t have been too damp.
The other four langs are doing just dandy as well. All have enough bees in them to show activity at 50f and overcast so they’re apparently healthy. Already bringing in pollen too!
The super hive seems to be doing incredibly well also! They have propolized up the front of the hive in what I can only presume is an effort to manage air flow and the openness of the entrance. Since I seldom ever check the front 10 frames I suppose that’s alright, though if they are to abscond it will be a chore to get those frames out.
As mentioned, I did move! The bees are still at my old bee yard, but my new place has a nice open yard that I can put them in so I’ll be moving them soon hopefully. I’m setting up bee benches according to a guide I found on YouTube that is all metal and can be adjusted/moved as necessary, because the yard is unlevel everywhere. I tested several positions on each side with my full weight and they seem to hold up quite well. Though I think I may need to adjust some of them because I may have overdone the forward slope a bit. You can really see how uneven the yard is, since the benches are level.
The long hive is PACKED to the brim with bees and babies and nectar! They even started building a little comb again but I sadly had to pull it down because it was across combs. I flipped around the frame it was on to discourage re-building there.
The other hives are full to bursting with bees and babies, but don't seem to have a ton of honey/nectar inside. I really hope there's a big nectar flow before it gets cold again.