Pictures are always good…

I like to see pictures when I read about things…and think most of us do—how many of us wait until we have read to the photo section of an autobiography to look at the pictures? I certainly don’t!

So, today continues the beautiful summer weather, 72° with a few low clouds when I checked the hive at noon today; bees calm but I did wear the veil, flipping it back to see better. The few times guard bees came to check, I stepped back to give them a chance to look me over and then we all went back to work and all was well. I’m going to leave one of my unwashed gardening t-shirts by the hive. If bees do get used to the beekeeper scent, which we read about and does seem true, it should lower the level of bee anxiety when I do a hive check. Wouldn’t that be a great thing if it worked?!

The hot weather continued all week so the spacer and entrance plugs are still out and the white plastic awning still in place. Here’s of picture of the top bars without the roof; bees meandering around the opening and parking on B16 but not drawing comb on it. Odds are they will not draw comb on B16 this year as they wind down for the season, and we will not have to remove a bar with honey this fall; that would be best for the bees. We will harvest the leftover honey next spring when nectar is available and bees have survived the winter.

Spacer removed for increased ventilation

Used the hive tool to separate B16 from B15 which are stuck tightly together with propolis—what an amazing glue these bees make. Recently saw a picture of a hive in Africa hanging from a tree. The hive itself was covered in propolis, which would be a good sealant from the elements. Here’s a photo of propolis build up that I find whenever opening the hive; I can understand why commercial beekeepers find it a nuisance.

Propolis between B16 and B15

Ken wanted to know how the 1.5” wide bars are doing so I snapped a few pictures. B13, B14, and B15 are the wider bars put in place on July 11. B13 and B14 are fully drawn; B15 is almost half drawn with nectar in the cells on the left side of the comb and capped honey on the right side of B15 comb. It looks to me that they are centering comb just fine; will add Ken’s comments about the comb attachment later. B15 comb is hanging straight and not cross combing or growing beyond the bar width. Really looking forward to removing B14 and others during spring to see what the configuration is throughout the hive. Lots of photos then to document the comb placement, etc.

B15 on cradle, left side of comb

B15 on cradle, right side of comb

B15 bottom view

B15 left side view

B15 right side view

B14 is completely drawn and attached to the side with brace comb, which is done to carry the weight of the honey…about 6 lbs per comb. Much heavier than brood comb would be—some day we’ll weigh for a comparison as I have not seen that in any of the information. I think the comb would extend on the bar completely to the side without a break between the comb and side brace comb attachment if the metal nail head and divet were not on the angled part of the bar. Seems to me that space weakens the comb structure—something to discuss and try with Ken.

B14 left side

B14 right side with brace comb

Finished the hive check in about 10 minutes and closed the hive without incident (that would be a bee sting).