Checking In

ON THE INSIDE: A couple of days ago, we opened the hive to take a peek. 

Boy, have our bees been busy!  Below is what the top of the racks looked like. The bees are even putting comb on top, and you could see some honey (right side of photo)!

 It's cool to see their new constructs.

And man, of man, there are so many more bees now than there were when we first picked up our hive! And many more are to come, based on the larva cells we could see. 

Spy the holes covered in gold below? That's capped brood (future bees - in metamorphosis stage between pupa and adult bee). 

They're so crowded in there, I don't see how they do their work! I certainly wouldn't enjoy such cramped working conditions.

Look at these four bees in the center of the photo below. It looks like some sort of teamwork, doesn't it? They're drawing new comb, which means they're building the actual honeycomb by exuding wax from their wax glands, chewing it up and then depositing it. 

 See the little button like formations below? Those are future drone bees. 

And note the bright yellow 'plug' in the comb below. That's pollen - the bee's pantry, if you will. 

CJ and Christian were the beekeepers for this visit. I questioned their clothing choice. Shorts seemed like a bad idea to me. ... 

And sure enough, bees started crawling all over Christian's legs. I admire his self control to not start freaking out, and I appreciate the fact the bees didn't sting him. They were just going about their business.

This coming weekend we'll take another peek. Can't wait to see the changes between now and then.