Headed out to the hives in the 2pm heat of the day (note to self: don’t do this again.) All hives were very active, TONS of traffic in / out and LOTS of brood being carried in – all good signs.
Honninfabrikken (next to pond) was absolutely jam-packed with bees coming in and out. I removed the covers, did a quick check of honey box #2 – they’re building out the comb and beginning to store honey – then removed it and placed it on the hive next to it.
Eased a couple of center frames apart and found them packed with capped honey … probably 3-4 frames like that, already. The rest of the frames in that hive are all built out and at least partially filled and capped. I’m betting in two weeks they’ll be ready to pull.
The center hive is the Westgate swarm hive. No doubt their bottom broods are filled with eggs, pollen and honey, but they’re just building out the cells in their first honey box … and some of them are partially filled but uncapped. Another month for them (remember, this was a small swarm so set expectations accordingly.
Far right hive has a single honey box on it and is doing reasonably well. No frames are completely filled and capped, but they’re on their way. Because they’re in the shade, I expect they won’t produce any substantial harvest honey until early August … @ that point I may just leave it on, add another super and harvest in late fall.
that’s it for now … the bees are doing well 🙂