Now, it's time to wait. It was really difficult not to look inside the hive, but very important that I gave them time to settle into their new home. After a few days passed, however, it was time to take a peek!
On Friday, I fired up my smoker for the first time, zipped on my jacket and veil, and was ready to see how my little gals were doing. I very lightly smoked the entrance and took off the lid. The first thing to do was pull up the queen box and see if she was released. A quick look showed that she was out and about. A good sign! One by one, I removed top bars to check for comb being built. It did not take long to find some!
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| The yellow on the new comb is pollen the bees collected. |
I quickly realized I did not need to worry about smoking the bees. Smoke has long been known to "calm" bees. Basically, a little smoke does two things: some of the bees will prepare to abandon the hive by drinking honey, as though there is a forest fire; the smoke will make it difficult to smell any alarm pheromones being sent out by guard bees. Since my colony is so new, they are pretty much focused on building up their resources and not defending the hive.
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| The queen is somewhere under the other bees in this photo. |
I quickly checked two of the combs. It did not take long to find the queen laying eggs. There was even honey and pollen in some of the cells. All signs show the colony is off to a good start.
This is awesome! I plan on getting bees some day in the future, when I get my own house.
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather kept honeybees and often gave us jars of honey when I was growing up, and I've always wanted to do it also. It'll be interesting to follow you and see how your hive is doing until I can get my own. Good luck Steve!!!