Adventures in Beekeeping - Day 5

I just wanted to post a few things about Day 5, which was actually April 29th.  There was no day 4 because there was nothing to do with the bees on that day.  If you are following along and it seems like there are days missing from the blog, that's because we are getting to the point when inspections of the hives will be less than they have been.  So, you haven't missed any if that is what you were wondering!

Checked the hives and actually took the frames out today.  I probably shouldn't be messing with them as much as I am, but I needed to check if the queens had been released from their cages with the marshmallow locks.  Thankfully, it would seem that the queens are free!

An empty queen cage.  Some worker bees are still attached but the queen is definitely gone.  Hopefully she is in hive!

As I was checking the queen I noticed that the bees had already made some comb.  Sadly, it was burr comb.  Burr comb isn't bad necessarily, but it is what the bees make when the frames are too far apart.  Fascinating fact time!  In beekeeping, the space between frames is known as the "bee space" and it is actually a very small amount of space.  If there is too much bee space between frames the bees will make burr comb, which are clumps of comb hanging from the frames instead of on the foundation, or they will make bridge comb, which is comb that actually joins to frames together.  Here is a picture of a frame covered in bees and the burr comb hanging of the side of the frame.

I had to knock this thing off.  It saddened me to do it honestly.  The bees had worked so hard, but it can really cause problems later.  Look at all those bees!!!

The Carniolans had some burr cone (L) and the Italians had some too (R).  I'm not sure if this is generally the case or not, but it would seem that the Carniolans make more yellow comb and the Italians make whiter comb.  I have no idea why, but it is cool!  We can also turn this into lip balm if we wanted!

Finally, Erin really wanted to have a go at wearing the bee suit, and since I forgot to bring the frames closer together we figured that was a perfect opportunity to her to suit up.  Here are a couple videos of her working the hives.  They are each a few minutes long, and are kind of boring.  She didn't get stung or anything!  Anyway, they are still interesting.  We'll keep adding updates after Old Man Winter goes away, hopefully for the last time.