First hive inspection reveals Squill is off to a good start!
Three weeks after installing his bee package, Brian finally got to inspect his hive Squill. These bees took a while to warm up to the queen, so Brian was wondering if she was in there and laying or if the girls had decided to reject her and had either killed or superceded her. Pollen was going in the hive which is usually a good indicator of brood and a happily laying queen (although not definite).
Upon opening the hive, Brian was very happy with what he saw. Seven frames of wax were being drawn out on wax foundation frames. Four frames were filled with capped brood and the queen had an excellent laying pattern. There was pollen and capped honey in the hive. On one of the frames, the wax was chewed around the bottom and sides and it looked very similar to the foundationless frames in Willow.
Brian also noticed his marked queen had paint all over one wing. Someone got creative and colored outside the lines when painting her. I wonder if this will affect her ability to fly? Does anyone know? All in all this was a great inspection and a relief to see that although this hive was off to a bumpy start everything is now moving along smoothly.
Box Breakdown
Bottom Box – Frame 1 starting to be drawn. Frame 2 capped honey in the corners, pollen and a few capped drones. Frame 3 capped honey in the corners, capped brood. Frame 4 capped brood, capped honey, pollen, nice brood pattern. Frame 5 great capped brood pattern, capped honey at the top, drone brood near the bottom and the queen. Frame 6 capped brood, capped honey, pollen. Frames 7 pollen in different colors. Frame 8 undrawn. Frames 9 undrawn. Frame 10 undrawn. Moved frame 8 to 2.
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