Hive Check 8.27.13

Still trying to find out if we have a Queen.

We did a complete hive check.

Since I’ve seen several Small Hive Beetles, and I am going to feed the bees,  I thought I should use a clean hive body and clean bottom board and kill all the beetles I could find.

I only have 2 deep boxes. I used a propane torch to make sure there were no eggs in the box with the window that Jim made me. He also narrowed one end of each frame for better viewing. These frames will have to go into the next one he makes.

I moved the hive a few feet …put the new bottom board and box in it’s place…and as I removed each frame and looked at it, Jim photographed it. Good thing…he got stuff I didn’t see. Then each frame was put in the clean box in the same position it was when I removed it.

This frame will be removed one of these days….but it has a little honey on each side and they need all the stores they can get. The board at a slant is the starter strip. It is supposed to be in the top of the frame to guide them…guess they did OK without it….just worked around it.

In the lower right is an open Queen cell. Kind of looks like a peanut. I found at least 4 of them. I know the hive swarmed twice but it is possible it swarmed before we got home also.

This frame has some nectar and pollen…

When I first looked at this frame I thought I was just seeing light shining thru the comb….I hope I was wrong. I didn’t see this until I downloaded the pictures.

I’ve cropped the part with the white cells…does it looks like larva?  or wishful thinking. A couple of them look like a little “c”…curled up larva.

I’ve been told the Queen likes to lay near nectar and pollen and I believe there is some at the top.

Here is another interesting frame. Looks like a little white larva and a few capped cells.

Closer look….what amazes me is …I never saw this when checking. Good thing Jim was taking pictures. How could I miss this!!

and in the upper L of the same frame is this one….is that white in the cell a larva?  Kind of looks like it.

More nectar and pollen….

Looking for a Queen….not having any luck…

Here we go again…a few more larva? Upper L and upper center?

another closer look…looks like a capped cell there too..flat like a worker bee. If it had a big dome cap it would be a Drone.

After I put all the frames in the hive box…there were a lot of bees on the old one so I stood it on end with a corner next to the entrance. As I was putting in reducers (make the entrance smaller to help prevent robbing by other bees when feeding) I noticed a few bees fanning….I watched all the bees in the old box march right into the hive.

We killed about 20+ Small Hive Beetles…but was told that is not an excessive amount. Did not get them all. Saw 3 through the observation window.

I still find it hard to believe that I did not see any of this larva when looking. Had my glasses on…but still missed it (if, in fact, it is larva.)

Sam Comfort will be in FL the first week of September. I’ll do another check in a week or so to be sure, but maybe that little window Jim put in will allow me to see without opening it up again…that is what it is supposed to be there for.

Sam is the beekeeper I bought these bees from. If I need a Queen I’d like to get it from him. His bees are raised natural and treatment free.

http://anarchyapiaries.org/hivetools/node/32

The more I look at the pictures…the more I feel we are going to be OK…if I am wrong…let me know.

The girls are cleaning the new entrance.

Cute and fuzzy….but don’t pet her…

Gathering pollen on Spiderwort.