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Monday, June 30, 2008

Maybe the Last Inspection

I inspected the Top Bar Hive again yesterday, and nothing much has changed. I am almost certain that the larvae is drones, now. About the only thing left to do now is wait and see.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Another Inspection

I looked into the hive again yesterday. It looks like there may be some larvae. Comb building has almost stopped, though, so I still don't know for sure. This may be drone larvae.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Third Inspection

I made my third inspection yesterday. My observations:
  • Bees are still working, but comb-building has slowed
  • There's pollen, nectar, and some capped honey
  • There's still no sign of a queen or brood
I have thought about getting a queen, but the hive is at a state now that it may be too late if it is queenless.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

The Second Inspection

I made my second inspection about a week after the first. I'm still concerned about the presence of the queen. The beekeeper assured me that there was a queen in there when he captured the swarm, so I'm not giving up hope. The combs are larger and there is pollen and uncapped honey.

Monday, June 2, 2008

The First Inspection

When I transferred the bees to their new home, I put one of the frames from the other hive - upside down - into the Top Bar Hive to encourage these bees to stay. After all, I'm not really keeping them, I'm just trying to create a suitable home and hope they like it enough to stay. After a few days, I removed the frame and noticed that the bees were already building natural comb on the top bars, so it wouldn't be long until I could actually do an inspection. As a note, I didn't see the queen or any evidence of the queen when I did the transfer, so I was hoping that I could see her during my first inspection.


I finally opened the hive up and inspected. During the first inspection, I was mainly just getting a feel for working around the bees and the Top Bar Hive. Still no sign of the queen or brood. All I could do was wait and see. Here's a pic of some of the first natural comb from my Top Bar Hive:
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