Catching up with Waxen City news Part I

Diary of events from May 11 - May 25 2014

Sorry to have been silent for so long!  No excuses...just apologies!

May 11
Spring!!!  Finally got to go into the bees as the weather was showing signs of warming up.  Blooming plants all around.

Spring!  Trillium in bloom

Redbud

Pear blossoms

Queen Olivia is booming.  I added empty frames between her brood to keep her working instead of thinking of swarming.  I also added two boxes on top to keep her busy.  Found her Majesty laying and ignoring me entirely.  I also gave her a screened bottom for ventilation.

Queen Olivia

Queen Mab looked like she was struggling so I went through all of her boxes.  I found that her bottom board was a sodden mess as the plywood had soaked up all moisture.  There was mold and a pile of dead bees in the bottom.  I cleaned it all up and gave her a screened bottom for ventilation.  Right away the hive seemed happier.

Victoria Day  May 19
Gorgeous day!  Had a bee lover join me for my bee check.  Went into Olivia just to give her a look at a very healthy hive.  We found Queen Olivia easily...she was hard at work with no interest in us.

Apprentice Kelly

We then went into Mab and found her majesty!  She looked very slow and sluggish so we thought we should give her some honey from Olivia to make sure the hive kept going. Very exciting for Kelly to see both queens on her first visit...also exciting for me.  We also found an empty queen cup...nothing to worry about as there was no egg or larva in it.

Empty queen cup

Beautiful lady slipper

Honey bee on dandelion...first source of pollen

May 25

Kelly joined me again and we added empty frames into Olivia and gave a quick check in Mab.   She was starting to strengthen and the hive was busier.  The weather is starting to be lovely and people are much friendlier.  I am starting to dream of gardening.

End of Part I