Three Week Inspection

Day 21     It has been very windy the last few days and we also had rain a couple of days with a very unusual Sunday of misty rain for most of the day and cool with the temperature in the upper 70's. I have stayed out of the hive except to check on the feeders twice. Now with it being three weeks since this package was installed and a very calm, warm day in the low 90's, I checked the feeders and did a full hive inspection. They have slowed down considerably on their sugar water intake, not even using a full jar during the last week.

Again, starting with Bar 7, they are building quite nicely.


I had a surprise on Bar 6. Her majesty, the queen, had ventured back here (circled in red in the second photo). This is a good example as to why you should always check each comb carefully to locate her. I wasn't expecting her to be back here and if I hadn't looked for her, I could have very easily dropped her in the grass and never known it. You can see the white capped honey cells at the top of the comb.



Bar 5 is the first comb that has a combination of honey and brood cells.


Below is Bar 5 at week 2. Notice how much the content of the comb has changed. Last week it was white and not much going on with it. This week nearly 3/4 of the comb has brood cells.


Bar 4 


Bar 3


Bar 2


Bar 1


One thing I noticed is that the population seems to be a lot less than last week. I'm sure it's just the normal drop as the bees age. The population should pick up as the next generation comes out of their cells. I'm curious to see if they are going to be as calm and docile as this group has been.


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