Hive Inspection #2- Day 25

OUR HIVE INSPECTION in photos

1st Hive Inspection- Pollen filled cells

We inspected the hive for the second time today- just shy of 2 weeks since our first inspection.  I have been so eager to get inside the hive, but have patiently waited until today.  After our last inspection we looked up what we saw and found out that the dark yellow, half filled cells were pollen stores.  I thought that I saw eggs in the bottom of the cells, though I wasn't sure if they were eggs or my eyes were playing tricks on me.










Second hive inspection today (day 25 since we installed the swarm) was very exciting.  We saw the queen again, though our photos were blurry, so we have nothing to show.  Next time.  We saw lots and lots of capped brood.  White, squishy larvae inside some cells.  Tiny little white eggs.  Capped honey cells at the top of the comb.  It was a full compliment of the honey bee stages of life.

Removing top bar #9

Top Bar within the hive

This bar of comb demonstrates capped honey- light capped cells along the top of comb.  The dark cells below the capped honey are stores of pollen.  Then a few uncapped cells.  The bottom half of comb, covered with bees is capped brood.  The dark cells amidst the capped brood, are vacated brood cells (where bees have matured and left their cell).

Within the darker cells, there is a tiny light colored tic-tack- that is the egg.  This observation means that our queen is mated and laying eggs.  Success!!

At the center of this photo, one row above the capped brood, are 5 open cells containing larvae.  They look like little white packmen.  The dark cells below, are already emerged bee cells.  The cells at top of photo are also cells where bees have previously emerged.  What you see within the cell is the junk left behind from the bees growth and transformation.  The bees on those cells are likely cleaning the cells up and getting them ready for a new egg.

This much anticipated hive inspection lived up to my hopes.  During and after the inspection I was high with excitement about how fascinating and cool bees are.  Observing them in action is so wonderful.  I visit our hive multiple times a day to see what I can see.  I have actually observed the queen pass by the window twice.  Though not a lot changes from visit to visit, I still love counting the bars of comb and watching what they are up too.  Hopefully we will get a photo of that queen.  Maybe next inspection we will try to get a photo of the different members of the hive: the Queen, the worker & the drone bees.  I absolutely love photographing our bees, as so much more can be appreciated from the photos after the fact.  They are beautiful creatures indeed.