Today I ordered a second beehive.
I went out this morning to check on the bees. It'd been a little over 3 weeks since I'd seen them last. The main hive was docile and polite, had plenty of room, plenty of honey, and evidence of a laying queen. I found larvae and capped brood. The average time from egg to adult for a worker bee is 21 days so any capped brood I saw had to have started their existence after the last time I checked in. They're doing fine. They will need to be fed starting next month. It's likely that queen is Beeyonce, even without her makeup.
The nuc colony was also looking healthy. They were more aggressive, had built comb all the way to the back of the nuc box, and I found honey and capped brood. I couldn't look very long because they we rather unhappy. Some of the bees even attacked and flew into my smoker. Anyway, using the same logic as above, I reasoned there must be a laying queen in there somewhere I just haven't yet found. Phoebee.
Checking in with my mentor, he confirmed my suspicious and suggested the nuc colony may feel cramped for space. Based on his recommendation, it was time to decide once and for all if I wanted to manage two hives. Most beekeepers seem to think this is a good idea. I decided I should go for it so I ordered another hive.
It should be here next week. With luck, we can get a stand built for it over the weekend.
I went out this morning to check on the bees. It'd been a little over 3 weeks since I'd seen them last. The main hive was docile and polite, had plenty of room, plenty of honey, and evidence of a laying queen. I found larvae and capped brood. The average time from egg to adult for a worker bee is 21 days so any capped brood I saw had to have started their existence after the last time I checked in. They're doing fine. They will need to be fed starting next month. It's likely that queen is Beeyonce, even without her makeup.
The nuc colony was also looking healthy. They were more aggressive, had built comb all the way to the back of the nuc box, and I found honey and capped brood. I couldn't look very long because they we rather unhappy. Some of the bees even attacked and flew into my smoker. Anyway, using the same logic as above, I reasoned there must be a laying queen in there somewhere I just haven't yet found. Phoebee.
Checking in with my mentor, he confirmed my suspicious and suggested the nuc colony may feel cramped for space. Based on his recommendation, it was time to decide once and for all if I wanted to manage two hives. Most beekeepers seem to think this is a good idea. I decided I should go for it so I ordered another hive.
It should be here next week. With luck, we can get a stand built for it over the weekend.
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