Anyway I decided to pop over to Sarah's regardless today although an hour later than the OA was planned and upon arriving the rain gave way for a little while so we went down to have a look at the bees.
Sarah decided to look into the hive that didn't have a marked queen and this turned out to be a good idea as we spotted, caught and marked her so it turned out to be a very productive inspection!!
Sarah is a very gentle handler of her hives, frames and bees...far gentler then myself when going through a hive...made me feel a bit bad to be honest....maybe I should try it! The colony we went through were lovely and calm and there was plenty brood and eggs present. As it wasn't my hives and I wasn't inspecting I got to play with the camera a little....enjoy the photos!!
Sarah getting the first frame out, very little in the way of stores. |
The colony. |
Lovely brood pattern |
Capped brood on the outer frame,3 day old larvae and grubs in the centre. |
The photos above and below were taken by me placing the lens of the camera at the hive entrance, hence the reason they look upside down! |
This frame brimming with bees is also full of newly laid eggs!! |
Hi Bee. |
I love the way the camera picks what it wants to focus on! |
Looking across at the other hives and watching the bees fly! |
Drone brood and queen cups, nothing in those cups though!! |
Bees being capped off just before pupating. |
Brace comb from under the queen excluder which the bees are cleaning out. |
One or two dead bees whilst you inspect is inevitable!! |
Lift off!!! |
They just realised where their queen is located!! |
These last few are too busy eating honey remnants to care!! |