Andrew Siwko’s Blog #2

This is the first inspection with pictures of the year.  I’ve peeked in to make sure the bees were still alive from time to time.  I also restacked the hive so that the body is on top of the empty hive body and the super was on top.

The super didn’t align so I put 8 bricks on opposing corners to keep the seal tight some time ago.

Frames 1,2,3, 8 and 9 were pretty empty.  I knocked a hole in the bottom of the frame 1 foundation by dropping the cover on it.  Oops.

I found 3 small hive beetles in the comb on frame 4.  I flicked them out with a pine needle.

The bee population is quite low compared to last inspection.

Here’s how things look:

Frame 4 (out): pretty empty.  That hole is still there .

Frame 4 (in): some honey left here, hive beetles too.  About 30 bees crawling around.

Frame 5 (out): maybe 150 bees crawling about.  Capped honey left over, maybe 30 cells of sealed brood.

Frame 5 (in): capped honey on the left and right, about 200 bees, lots of sealed brood, some larvae visible, a big band of pollen, liquid in a U shaped band under the brood/pollen.

Frame 6 (in): similar to the facing frame, honey on either side, a band of pollen, brood in the middle with liquid near the borrom left and right of the pollen band.

Frame 6 (out): The queen’s right in the middle.  Maybe 300 bees.  This frame was like the last two sides except that there were far more larvae visible and the pollen was concentrated in the upper left.

Frame 7 (in): Another 200 bees, honey on either side.  No brood sealed, but plenty of larvae visible.  There’s a good stock of pollen here and liquid in a band all around.

Frame 7 (out): About 30 bees here.  This side’s pretty empty.  There may be a few larvae in there and there are some cells that look like they’re plugged with a white cap.

Pictures here: http://linode.siwko.org/2010-03-25-inspection/