Bee Update

Last week, we brought home a package of bees and a "nuc".  The package mostly disappeared, and I tore up a swarm I didn't even know we had, thinking it was the rest of the package.

Well, the swarm stuck around despite my disruption, and is now bringing in pollen.  That means they have larvae to feed, and can be moved into an official hive.  The brood makes them less likely to abandon a hive, so some people suggest waiting until they are bringing in pollen before moving them, or they may decide to find another home.

The package is really small, with very little outside activity, but is at least alive.  Tomorrow, I'll open it up and make sure the queen is free and see if she is laying.

The nuc is doing fine and gaining strength.

And I think I caught another swarm in my other bait hive yesterday.  I didn't get a chance to get a good look, but it looked like hive activity, not just scouts.

I built the bait hives, but didn't REALLY expect to get any swarms, so I don't currently have enough equipment or stands for 4 full hives.  I guess I've got to get to Lowe's and buy some wood.

Another real quick inspection

I checked the bees again last week just to make sure I could find the queen.  I was confident she was there because the brood I saw last time didn't seem to be drone, but I wanted to make sure.  I did find her, but she was not marked.  This could be simply that the paint as worn off, or it could be that she was killed and replaced toward the end of summer during the period that I didn't get a chance to check.  If that's the case, it may explain the low hive population.  (Long-winded explanation at the bottom.)  I also got under the hive this week while it was cold and looked up through the screened bottom board to see how big the cluster was.  It is probably only 2 to 3 frames wide.  Even figuring that it did seem to go from front to back, that's nowhere near the basketball or soccer ball size that the internet says it should be.  But, maybe Texas doesn't need that large a cluster, and the small hive I'm seeing is normal.  At least they are going through syrup well, when its warm, so maybe they won't starve.

I did find that I killed 10 or 15 bees when I rearranged the combs.  One of the honey combs was extra wide, and I didn't realize it when I put it on the outside edge.  When I then had to shove everything over to get the last frame back in, bees were trapped between the wall and that comb.

Trinity Valley Beekeepers Association Potluck

I went to the Trinity Valley Beekeepers Association potluck on Tuesday.  Not really a meeting, but I did get my questions answered.  For one, I had forgotten that the queen mated with up to 12-15 drones (according to wikipedia).  So she may have mated with one german drone or something and that's why I get a few dark bees.  I was also told that even the pacakged bees probably won't kick out the drones until the summer dearth, so still seeing drones is also normal.

I also finally found my queen.  I was updating my bee log by going through the pictures and counting frames of brood vs honey, etc. while also checking for the queen again.  Sure enough, I found her at the bottom of a frame, with her paint dot barely visible.  I may not have seen her in the flesh, but I at least recognized her shape in the photo before I even noticed the dot, so that's something.