I went out on the porch last night to let the dogs out to the bathroom, and I was barefoot. As soon as I stepped out, I stepped on a bee and got stung on the toe. So now it is all swollen and hurting. I was wondering why they were in front of the porch door. I looked in front of the hives and the one closest to the house was bearding a bit. There were about 100 bees out on the front just hanging out.
Today I went into them because I was worried they were too crowded. The queen in each hive was in the top box and on the outer frames. I was not even looking for her. I found the queen in each hive really easily. The queen in each hive has laid in every cell possible and I will be able to put on my honey supers in about 5 more days. Busy busy!
The 2 carni hives will probably be able to give me some honey this summer, the 2 Italians will probably just be them drawing frames and winter stores.
I took off the feeders for a week to force them to use some of their own stores. I am going to add them back today to get them drawing comb faster....
And its going to get even better. Like I heard last year, when the bees chased me back to the house last September (three followed me into the house) -- those sweet, gentle bees you had in the spring are going to seriously change dispositions in the autumn. This may be the time to start the consideration to move them off the deck and into the yard. While they're relatively docile now with the occasional sting, my opinion says the bigger the colony gets through the summer, the more likelihood they're going to become defensive and sting even more -- you, the dogs, etc. So maybe its time to think about moving them away from the deck and into the yard. Good luck with that.
ReplyDeleteOuch! Getting stung is no fun :( Sounds like your hives are coming along really well though :)
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