Pictures from Today's Inspection

Today's pictures didn't come out great, a lot of senselessly blurry ones, including some mysterious pictures of the ground. Sorry, but there were many factors that prevented good picture taking: i was really excited to look into a real live occupied beehive, then i became really nervous as the bees were walking all over my arms/hands/camera. It was easy to be nonchalant beforehand, but when they are walking on you its a whole different thing.
In addition to that, i used a old crappy camera... I had picked up PJ's good camera and looked at it, and i couldnt figure out how to turn it on. i didnt want to admit to being lame or technologically chalenged, ands suddenly the lid was coming off the hive and i just grabbed the other camera. so heres a few views of todays event:

This is a picture of what i thought was the queen. you can just see her body at the very top of the picture.

frame #3

All i can say is that it was tremendously awesome to look into bee city.

Opening the Hive

It was a lovely sunny afternoon when we took a peek inside today, a week after installing the 4 frame nuc. Lots of bees, but not sure if we saw the queen after checking all the centre frames. Saw at least some capped brood, but not really sure if there is more than last week. The bees have done a great job of cleaning up the old hive frames, and--except for the 3 black frames on the edge that weren't drawn out when installed--they're into the old hive frames' honey nicely, cleaning, and making more. Lots of foraging going on, pollen coming in from all over, different shades of yellow and orange. Looks good! Hope to see more in a few weeks, compare pictures. Growth?

DON'T BEE SKUNKED!

The Striped Skunk is widely distributed, easily recognized, and hard to forget. Opportunistic omnivores, skunks can find a meal anywhere. The apiary offers skunks a bountiful feast. On skunk can decimate the entire population of a hive in as little as three nights. Scratching at the entrance the animal alerts the guard bees to a disturbance at the door. As they respond to protect the hive, the skunk quickly devours the workers. As more bees emerge, they too are consumed. Satiated, the skunk will waddle away to sleep off its delectable meal and return the following evening. This behavior will continue until the hive is vacant. If it finds any way to access the hive, the wax, pollen, and honey would also be eaten.
http://www.jonesbee.com/skunked.html

Lorenzo Langstroth

Thanks to Rev Lorenzo Langstroth, inventor of the modern bee hive as we know it today.

Here are 10 bee keeping axioms from his book, A Practical Treatise on the Hive and the Honey-Bee, published in 1853:

There are a few first principles in bee-keeping which ought to be as familiar to the Apiarian as the letters of his alphabet :

1^st.  Bees gorged with honey never volunteer an attack.

2^nd.  Bees may always be made peaceable by inducing them to accept liquid sweets.

3^rd.  Bees, when frightened by smoke or by drumming on their hives, fill themselves with honey and lose all disposition to sting, unless they are hurt.

4^th.  Bees dislike any quick movements about their hives, especially any motion which jars their combs.

5^th.  Bees dislike the offensive odor of sweaty animals, and will not endure impure air from human lungs.

6^th.  The bee-keeper will ordinarily derive all his profits from stocks, strong and healthy, in early Spring.

7^th.  In districts where forage is abundant only for a short period, the largest yield of honey will be secured by a very moderate increase of stocks.

8^th.  A moderate increase of colonies in any one season, will, in the long run, prove to be the easiest, safest, and cheapest mode of managing bees.

9^th.  Queenless colonies, unless supplied with a queen, will inevitably dwindle away, or be destroyed by the bee-moth, or by robber-bees.

10^th.  The formation of new colonies should ordinarily be confined to the season when bees are accumulating honey ; and if this, or any other operation must be performed, when forage is scarce, the greatest precautions should be used to prevent robbing.

    The essence of all profitable bee-keeping is contained in Oettl’s Golden Rule : KEEP YOUR STOCKS STRONG.  If you cannot succeed in doing this, the more money you invest in bees, the heavier your losses ; while, if your stocks are strong, you will show that you are a bee-master, as well as a bee-keeper, and may safely calculate on generous returns from your industrious subjects.

Sunshine and Rain

Yesterday was rainy in the morning, but that didn't stop the bees from going out. The sun came out in the afternoon and traffic increased.
Today is slightly overcast and warm (thermometer is showing 22). The girls are proverbially busy with much coming and going.