Unexpected inspection of hive!
Ever since I installed the bees, I worried that the five 1/2" holes that I had drilled for the entrance would not be sufficient. During peak season when the hive is at its strongest, there will be a lot of traffic, which can be impeded if the entrance was not large enough. Inadequate ventilation was also another concern with so few holes. Unsure of what to do, I sought the advice of Michael Bush, renowned natural beekeeper in the beekeeping society, whose website I'd read over and over again before I started this beekeeping project.
Being a noob in this field, I didn't expect to get a reply. Well, I got a reply the next morning! Go Michael! He recommended removing a top bar and putting in spacers until I have a 3/8" gap from the first top bar to the entrance end of the hive. This would also mitigate the problem of the bars swelling on a humid/rainy day to the point where they don't fit neatly between the hive's ends.
I had 1/4" spacers made from the leftover top bars (thanks, Brian!) and planned to use them to make that gap next Wednesday, about a week from the first inspection. It so happened that, on Sunday, the temperature got up to 80 F and when I checked on the bees at around 3:30pm, I saw that some of them had moved outside the hive and were hanging out there. It wasn't as bad as bearding, but that was a sign that the hive was too hot.
I opened the observation window and instead of the usual tight cluster of bees on one end, I saw the bees spread throughout the hive while fanning their wings furiously. I think they were having a difficult time creating enough air flow through those five small holes.
With the bees spread throughout the hive, you can see the combs a lot better!
Suit up! I got my bee gear on and opened the hive. This time, I didn't use the smoker because the last time (and very first time ever) I lit the smoker, I almost smoked myself out of my garden. No smoke!
I removed one bar at the end of the hive and stuck my bare hand into the hive. The temperature inside was definitely humid and a lot warmer than on the outside. There was also a sweet, sugary fragrance. I slowly moved the remaining bars back until I got to bar #5. They have drawn combs on the first five bars, the middle three being pretty large combs that contained:
Can you see the eggs? I need to finish my top bar stand so I can get close-up photos! New comb is beautiful! It's completely white with very thin walls.
It's cool to see the different colors of the pollen!
The cells near the top of the comb were filled with a champagne-colored (almost transparent) liquid. It seemed too light to be honey, but I don't think bees store water in the cells. It's probably honey that has really high water content, or possibly just nectar. Not sure yet.
The comb guides (the V-shaped extusion, or as I like to describe it, upside-down Toblerone bar) worked GREAT! Each of the five combs were built neatly along the guide, almost as if the bees knew exactly where to build. Thanks, bees! All the hours I spent cutting, gluing, and nailing those pieces on paid off!
I noticed that the cells near the top of the comb typically had honey. Pollen is stored near the middle of the comb, and eggs near the bottom.
When I got to bar #2, guess what I found?
She looks magnificent! See how the other bees crowd around her? Everywhere she goes the worker bees make way for her and also surround her. I'd read that they constantly preen her and feed her. I didn't notice any preening. They seemed to be just gathering around her like adoring fans.
The queen honeybee is a fascinating creature. She lives up to 3 years (worker bees and drones have 6-7 weeks lifespans) and can lay up to 2000 eggs in a day. From one nuptial flight, she obtains all the sperm that she will use for the rest of her life. I'm not sure whether, in that one flight, she mates with one or multiple drones. I've read both.
She stores the sperm in a sac (called the spermatheca) in her abdomen. Every time she lays an egg, she decides whether or not to fertilize it with a sperm. If she fertilizes it, that creates a female bee. An unfertilized egg will grow into a drone (a male bee).
The larva from a fertilized egg can grow into either a worker bee or a queen bee. The only difference is in the food that it is fed with! A future queen bee is fed royal jelly through all of her larval life whereas a future worker bee is fed royal jelly for only the first two days, followed by a mixture of honey and pollen.
I'll save the many other captivating bee trivia for another post. But I'll leave you with this video: how I take out a comb from the hive.
