This morning I had to drive to the north part of Atlanta to pick up my tax data from my accountant. Easy to go by the Chastain hive as I drove back to my office, so I did. I was in business clothes, no camera, but helpfully, all of my beekeeping equipment was in my car from the mountains this past weekend.
I had an apron to put under my jacket to protect my nice pants. I lit the smoker, put on my jacket and veil and went up to the hive.
When last I was at Chastain (about a week ago), the hive looked anticipatory. They were not making a queenless roar, but they definitely did not have a laying queen. The hive was full of queen cells that had been opened. The brood cells were not back-filled with nectar but instead were polished and waiting at the ready for the advent of a new queen.
I thought I had read somewhere that it is not unusual for a swarm to requeen once it is settled into its new hive, but I now can't find a reference for that, so I'm not stating that as a fact. This swarm hive has definitely made that decision. Clearly the hive had requeened itself and was in no distress except for the fact that I was disturbing their peaceful anticipation.
The top two boxes were all honey - not completely filled. As a matter of fact, no more honey had been put up than before I left for Memorial Day.
When I got to Box 2 (second from the bottom), there were open brood cells, polished. So I held the frame with the sun over my shoulder and there they were: EGGS - tiny new beautiful evidence that these bees have successfully requeened.
I closed the hive back up, took off my bee gear, tried to wipe the campfire smell off of my hands with wipes, and headed back for work.
It was a good day in my bee world.
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Congratulations to you and the contented girls. They know what they want!
ReplyDeleteExcited to have found your blog! Just getting into beekeeping, so I have much to learn. Thanks for offering all this information. I'll be reading and following.
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