N40 Bee Wrangler: Queen Bee Check
Now that I've confirmed Mike and Reese aren't in the Bee Mafia and the bees have been transplanted into their new hive, it's time to check on the Queen. After all, everything revolves around her (this is the story of my life with a 4 year old who thinks she is a Princess Elsa).
The main reason to check on the hive a couple days after introducing the colony to their new home is to make sure 1) that she and the colony are there, and 2) to see if they have started to build and acclimate to their new home. We also want to remove the cage that the queen was in when we first introduced the colony.
We transplanted our bees May 1st and went to check on them May 4th. After a quick visual inspection we could see lots of bees moving in and out of the hive some were even bringing in pollen, a really good sign! Lifting the lid the hive was teaming with activity. There were bees on every frame, they had consumed a portion of the pollen patty and after lifting the first frame out, we could see they were building comb and depositing pollen inside the cells.
The queen was easy to find. She was on the frame where her cage was located. This was also the frame with the most construction and pollen deposits. We quickly removed our rubber band and queen cage, snapped some pictures and closed things up.
Our next inspection won't take place for a while as there is no need now to do much but leave them alone, let them build and reproduce. Mmm-. Mmm! I can almost taste the fresh honey, and I'm sure our bee hive tenants are looking forward to having a lot of pollinators near their garden this summer!
Equipment Side Note:
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As you can see from the pictures I'm always suited up in the Harvest Lane Bee Suit. I wouldn't do this without it, but it is ironic that our photographer Al is just as close to the bees as I am, and he isn't wearing a suit. There are lots of theories and ways to handle bees, I prefer the method that includes a bee suit'“ Al claims bugs don't mess with him. I think he is crazy.
Whatever your method, the suit is pretty comfortable and is easy to work in.
I highly recommend it!
DPS