Bee Arthur is alive and laying eggs. I also spotted a few larvae but not many. I'm hoping to see capped brood next inspection. They have built comb on 3 frames.

I will try to get pictures or video of inside the hive at some point. As of now I'm not comfortable doing my work and filming simultaneously.

Good morning everyone. I hope all is well. Last night I installed this new hive entrance guard to the hive. The hard working gals don't seem to mind. More room to go in and out than they had before but still easier to defend than a full open entrance. We're looking at a high of 80°F today so they should be active.

My 1st hive inspection is this afternoon. Hopefully Bee Arthur is doing well and laying eggs.

Have a great day!

Hello everyone, how's it going? It's a gorgeous day here so we're working outside on a retaining wall. The ladies are up and working as well. I'll be moving the hive entrance reducer to the bigger side tomorrow during the hive inspection or tonight after dark. Later at 1pm I'll be finishing bee school by doing a hive inspection at a local bee yard. Perfect timing as my 1st inspection on mine is tomorrow.

Have a wonderful day!

Some of the girls came home with legs weighed down by pollen. Each day I'm noticing more pollen. It reached 70°F today so they were also more active than any other day so far. This probably sounds dumb but I just sit about 5ft from the hive and watch. They are so damn fascinating! I'm looking forward to looking in on Bee Arthur Sunday afternoon.

Have a nice evening!

The ladies are up and working hard today. It's exciting to see more and more bees as the temperature rises. Hopefully I'll find signs of brood on Sunday and resources starting to be stored.

Have a good afternoon everyone! May the rest of the week pass quickly.

I installed my liquid feeder on the hive a few minutes ago. I'm glad because it will help jumpstart the production of comb for storage and baby bees. They seem to have enjoyed their sugar block though.

I'm getting pretty good at lighting the smoker and producing thick, cool smoke. I'm using a blend of cedar chips and burlap. The bees don't seem to mind me at all. I'll check on Bee Arthur this weekend.

Have a good evening!

Hello everyone, hope you're having a good Tuesday. We're slow at work so I took 1/2 of my remaining 1 day of use it or lose it vacation. I'm taking the other half Friday. So I'm hanging with the girls of the Yellow Hive and going to vote with my wife soon. We're trying to remove our wanker of a mayor. He's shady and an asshole IMHO. On our return I'm putting 1 gallon of 1:1 simple syrup on the hive. We might visit a nursery too.

Have a pleasant afternoon!

A worker bee returning at days end after a foraging flight. There are small amounts of pollen visible. Once everything is open and blooming they should return covered.

It's official, Bee Arthur, Queen of the Yellow Hive is loose! They already ate the candy plug so she walked right out and down the 3rd frame when I removed the metal disc cover. I'd have gotten her picture but she took off into the hive.

On a secondary note, notice all that bright yellow by the reduced entrance? IT'S POLLEN, THEY WERE FORAGING!!! I'll check back in on Saturday to see if Bee Arthur is laying brood.

Have a great evening friends!

I'm seeing more bees every time I check! After work I plan on uncorking the queen cage so she can get out and start laying eggs. Ideally we'll have 50,000-60,000 bees in two brood boxes by summer.

I'm so relieved to see bees outside my hive after days of thunderstorms and freezing temperatures. We're looking at a frost tonight but improving weather after that. I'm really hoping these guys can make it.

All quiet in the bee yard. Hopefully the cluster is keeping warm in there. It's getting cold the next few nights and it's stressing me a bit. The straggler bees remaining after the second package shaking are secure in the garage. I'm hoping the 60° weather Monday will see some of them get into the hive.

Have a good rest of your night!

These bees chose to stay out in the rain and cold all night instead of going in the hive. So I'm using sugar and a hair dryer to bring them back to life. So far I'd say 80 to 90% or alive just waterlogged.

Last bee post for now. I don't want to over do it. Here are the package stragglers making their way in slowly.

Here are some pictures Melissa shot during the install. The 1st is me preparing the hive and package for install. The 2nd I'm inspecting the queen to make sure she and her attendants were ok. The 3rd shot is me shaking the bees like they owe me money into the brood box.

I'm glad it's done but wish the remaining ones in the package would walk in there faster.

Have a wonderful afternoon friends! I'm sipping coffee and getting my daughter from school.

There's currently 3 lb of bees which is approximately 10 to 20,000 in the backseat of my car.

Today my beekeeping adventure begins for real. I'll be picking up my 3lbs package of bees and marked, mated queen at noon. Unfortunately the weather here is less than ideal for the installation process but I'll have to work around that. Hopefully they can get going in these less than favorable conditions.

Have a wonderful Friday everyone! I'll share some of the install process if it's not pouring rain later.

I'm installing beeswax foundations in my brood box frames like I'm a beekeeper or something.

Seriously, I've found this foray into beekeeping very rewarding.

I hope you're all having as much fun as me this evening.

My fully vented beekeeping veil arrived yesterday but I never had a chance to get it out. It's much cooler than my full suit.

The picture is me wearing the beekeeping veil with full eye contact.

MORE POLLINATORS NEEDED
Sad news for startups like #HarpHives #Bees

Honey bee colonies could face 70% losses in 2025, impacting agriculture

https://abcnews.go.com/US/honey-bee-colonies-face-70-losses-2025-impacting/story?id=120191720