The Queens are Released and Laying Eggs

Today I checked to see if my Italian queen had been released from her cage. She had been released, and has also started to lay eggs. I also checked the Russian hive to see if the queen had started laying yet (it can take 2 weeks for a Russian queen to start to lay eggs, whereas an Italian queen will begin to lay much sooner). My Russian queen must have started to lay eggs right after her release, because there were some young bees, already in the larval stage of development, which means that about 1 week has passed since her first eggs were layed.

I also wanted to place some pollen substitute in each hive because it has been so rainy that the bees have been unable to gather pollen for themselves and for rearing young. Because it is a first year hive, the bees first have to build honey comb on all the frames before they can store anything in it. This slows the bees down considerably, and as a result, the food stores are built slower, and are therefor bare at this point. I didn't want the bees to starve to death in their first weeks in my bee yard.

When entering the hives today I did not use any smoke. I simply washed my hands with wintergreen rubbing alcohol, and quietly opened each hive to do what I needed to do. The bees were gentle and cooperative.

I was able to find the Italian queen, which I needed to do in order to keep her safe while I removed some burr comb from one of the frames, which was covered with thousands of bees. Removing this comb, bare handed, was a challenge for me, both practically and psychologically. In the end, I was able to get it done without injuring any bees or getting stung. There were about 100 or so bees on the small piece of burr comb I removed, and about 1000 eggs (one in each cell) in the burr as well.

Its too bad that it had to be removed, but burr comb is impractical because it is built where there is a too-big gap between frames, which there is while a new queen is installed. During the installation of a queen there are only 9 frames in a hive body designed to hold 10 frames. 9 frames are used, instead of the required 10 frames, so that the queen cage can occupy some of the space where the missing frame would otherwise be kept. This creates a gap, during the time it takes the bees to release the queen from her cage. The bees work hard to fill this space.

The nice part of having to remove the burr comb, is that the comb had some honey stored in it. After shaking all the bees off it and bringing it into the house, I was able to eat raw honey in the comb for the first time. That was a nice reward to receive so early in my first season. The flavor of the honey was wonderful. And I can't wait until I can harvest some more.

The next time I go into the hive I will check to see if the Russians have filled 6 out of the 10 frames with comb, eggs, pollen, and honey. When they have 60% (80% for the Italian hive) of the first hive body (called a Super) built out, and in use, I will add a second hive body (which holds 10 more frames) on top of the first. This will give the bees the room to expand. This process will continue throughout the season, for both hives, and all supers above and beyond the bottom two are mine to harvest when they are filled with honey.

So, I now leave the hives alone for a week, while I watch these bees work their magic of converting nectar, water, and pollen into energy for themselves and honey for the both of us to share.