Drones and Drips

I checked on all of my own hives today to see if I needed to add a box to any of them. All of the hives were working in the box below the most recent addition, so I'm leaving them alone for another week.

In Bermuda, there was an opportunity to photograph a great drone. They look sort of like cigars - blunt on the end. Their eyes are huge compared to the workers in the picture. I saw drones walking around in every hive.


In Bermuda, the box below the top box is a shallow that I stuck on for honey production while I was not bee-ing and was away at my daughter's wedding. The queen is laying in two frames of the shallow. Here is a good shot that shows eggs in the early stages as well as very young larvae. There is also another good big-eyed drone photo op at the upper left corner.



In Mellona, one frame of honey was attached to the frame next to it. When I removed it, comb broke off creating a huges honey drip. The bees immediately marshall forces to repair the problem. I hate creating the drip, but watching the bees circle the edge of the honey puddle and work their way to the middle is fascinating. The ones in the circle around the comb are collecting the spilled honey.



In Aristaeus2, the queen has also been very active. She has also been laying in the third box. It is only an 8 frame box so brood in the third box is to be expected.