This first inspection is to make sure that things are going well-- If things are going well, I should see that the workers in each hive are drawing-out wax comb (building honeycomb) and beginning to fill it with pollen and honey, that the bees have freed the queen from her candy cage, and that (this is most important) if the queen is doing her job I should see in her eggs in many of the center cells.
The inspection was made, no one was stung, and the hive seems to be right on schedule. The cool thing that I found when I opened up my hive was burr comb-- comb that bees will build in any empty space-- it's the comb that they build in natural hives-- but it has to be removed in Langstroth Hives-- the box-type modern hives that are used in America, and designed to eliminate burr comb and other problems.
The reason why we had burr comb in our hives is because we had an empty space created by the missing frame where we hung the queen's cage. Hopefully, we won't find much burr comb in the future. But it's pretty cool.
Here are some pictures. I think it's beautiful.
I love bees.
Here is a close-up of the comb. You can see a little pollen in one of the cells, and above that a little honey.
Here's the two biggest pieces of burr comb. The smaller one is about 8 inches long and about 4 inches wide. The bigger piece is about 8"x8".
The girls helped me look for the queen's eggs. They're tiny.
Here's another close-up of the comb. It's so perfect. How do 10,000 individual bees know how to make this, and how do they coordinate the work?
Oh, and the honey was delicious. I can't wait until we have more than a few teaspoons to taste.
9 comments:
very cool. thank you so much for sharing your pictures and experiences with us. It's very fun to watch this all develop. Why do you have to remove the burr comb?
and where do they have the space to build it in your hive. I read a little on your link to the Langstrom hives.
Jamie,
I updated the post to answer your question. I really don't expect anyone to read the post... mostly just look at the pictures. (Kinda like I usually do with the National Geographic, except my posts will have fewer spectacular pictures and more grammatical errors.)
Did you say, "cool"? A while ago I was talking to someone at work and I said something like, "I've really enjoyed learning about beekeeping. It's cool." To which she responded, "I don't think 'cool' is the right word."
thank you. You did answer all my questions and I repeat. cool.
I love, love, LOVE the picture of Matthew & the three girls looking at the comb!
Word verification: wisit
We can't wait until you come wisit us!
Matthew, this is so very interesting, and I'm learning alot about Bees! Thanks for sharing. Isn't it fun to get 'into' something?? And have your kids enjoy it also? So sorry that some people are giving you a hard time about your passion. Hmmmmm....feels a bit familiar...hmmm oh, that's right! I remember. One time, years ago, our family was into GOATS! And we were teased like crazy by some Lowe Quality Guys! ha! You are raising a beautiful family, I'm so proud of you! Keep up the bee lessons! I will appreciate honey much more now. And, how DO they work together and communicate?
Lynn,
In retrospect-- goats are VERY cool.
I DID read your post, very interesting and I looked up the info on the hives you have in wikepedia. Very cool! You need to email Lynn your post about goats and goat people...
Christy,
That was actually a post about compost and the comments about goats were in the comments section. Lynn chimed in on that one too.
Hey no way... we found burr comb too! I have a chunk sitting on my counter at this very moment! I was going to take pictures of ours and post it too! Maybe I'll just borrow your pictures, they're really great.
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