Well, I have once again been bad and neglected the blog. Sorry about that. I have been very busy though. And I wanted to share with you my first beehive. Below are the photos taken today. This is just after two weeks time from the initial installation of the bee package. We brought a pure European queen and intend on keeping the hive free of African genetics, which is of course a concern in our area. My buddy Geoffrey (partner in bee crime) took these excellent photos. Enjoy!
Here you see the purchased foundation (wax sheet) and thicker comb that bees did more or less freeform
Here I'm examining comb that is mostly honey
These cells are stores for a great variety of local pollens
Holding the frame to the sun allows me to see the comb very clearly
We left too much space between frames initially and the bees made this big comb by attaching it to the lid of the hive, it fell off when I opened the hive.
Same large section of comb that is not attached to a frame. You can see honey and capped brood cells!
Same comb, upper section close-up, lots of yummy honey. I later wired this comb into a frame. Conform damn it!
another frame
Here I'm gently brushing the bees away from the comb. Notice the centrally located brood cells. We have a good queen!
Capped and uncapped brood cells
This frame has from top to bottom: uncapped honey, pollen stores and empty drawn out comb
Here she is, the queen has a gold mark on her back. Even though I have set this frame aside she doesn't stop laying for a second.
More queen action
Here some spilled honey is being conserved (gobbled up) by this worker. Geoffrey and I had a little taste. You could tell the honey wasn't quite ready but it was delicious and decidedly HONEY!
HONEY HONEY HONEY!
Golden goodness
Another nice close-up. Did I mention how proud we are of our girls?!
:)
Congrats on your first beehive! I long for one of my own some day. Chickens too! But I think I'll have to be patient and wait until I am no longer renting. Until then I live vicariously through people blogging about their experiences.
ReplyDeleteThese photos are amazing!!! It just looks so beautiful and I'll be by ASAP. Kimberly *formerly of Village and now also of Roger's* and I want to crash your pad on May 6th, when we're off work. Okay?
ReplyDeleteMy god, it's a thriving colony already!
ReplyDeleteKaveh! you've done so much to your place already, surely a bee hive here and chicken run there won't make much difference. :)
ReplyDeleteSimple, that would be great!
ReplyDeleteDenise. I know can you believe it. still a couple more weeks to wait until the first new bees start emerging. Then the hive will really take off!
ReplyDeleteThat is SOOOO cool. Always wanted to do that. Will be fun to see how it goes. Thanks for sharing your adventure!!
ReplyDeleteThat sure looks like success to me! Pretty exciting! We had bees find us and set up a hive in the garden for a few years and then the hive vanished. When we tore down the fence where they were we were elbow-deep in honey. That was before the Africanized bees had crossed the mountains, so I'd be curious: How do you keep the bees purely European?
ReplyDeleteLD, thanks. I'll keep you all updated!
ReplyDeleteJames, really like your blob. I'd love to see your garden someday. I can't wait until the weight of honey is crushing me, my elbows are ready.
ReplyDeleteTo keep honey bees pure you must control the queen and the production of new queens. This requires regular observation within the hive. During the active time of the year I will have to be in the hive looking at the comb every 10-14 days. Sounds like a lot of work but truth be told, I'd open it up every day if I could. They are super cool.