Cleaning House

bee hives

Here’s another reason why I thought the blue hive was dead: no dead bees on the outside. Bees are such tidy insects – they’ll haul out their dead so the hive is kept clean. No dead bees on the outside made me think they were all dead on the inside! Not the case, though, as … Read more

Pollen Packets

When I checked the bees on Sunday, many were carrying these ‘pollen packets’ on their hind legs. They actually stuff the pollen into the pouches on their hind legs and bring it home to feed the larvae. I saw pale yellow, dark yellow, and some shades of orange. They obviously have a few sources of … Read more

Playing Juliet

checking the hive

So here you can see the hive I fretted and worried over, thinking it was dead. Busy as can be! I’m so happy to have two good hives. Next trip out will be for cleaning, this one was just to check on them, take off the tar paper and move the straw bales out of … Read more