Mellona, on the other hand, came weakly through the winter and has been slow to build up. Mellona has a queen who continues to lay well, but they are still in two boxes and the third is full of empty frames.
Today I decided to trade spaces, moving the Easter bees into Mellona's spot and vice versa. The bees were so unhappy that I was doing this. Easter bees spilled out everywhere and I was swirling in bees.
In the end the move did take place and both hives calmed down. Interestingly I got stung about four times on my right thigh as I moved the biggest boxes from Easter. In the past at night those places would be swollen and itchy. In reality, five years into this, I can't find the places on my leg where I was stung tonight!
The bees who were bearding at the Easter hive did not move with the boxes, and I was scared they would kill the Mellona queen. I posted about this on Beemaster and was reassured that the queen is surrounded by her own nurse bees in the brood box and the foragers aren't likely to be interested in killing her. They are just confused.
So below is how the two hives looked at 5 PM.
Now at 10 PM you can see the thick beard of Easter bees on Mellona and a collection in front of the new Easter location as well. We'll hope for the best and see what happens as the new location becomes a reality for foragers tomorrow.
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