It's been raining on and off today and I was a little concerned the bees would be a bit moody. But by 2pm it had dried up and they proved to be on their best behavior; calm and easy to work.
Dave and I installed the swarm a little under a month ago. We fed them about 7 or 8 liters of syrup in the first week but since then we left them alone to get on with things.
Dave has been watching them over the month and has seen plenty of activity so we had no cause for any concern. And so it proved today!
They're in a national hive which is smaller than I'm used to but I like the size, and especially the reduced weights, of the frames! For those interested they are in the "warm" configuration!
So, in the last month 5 frames have been fully drawn out. Two are full with capped honey and three have lots of nice capped dense brood. A classic pattern of brood, pollen and honey stores was evident on the frame - the photo above picks it out well.
I didn't see the queen, but there was no need to as everything was in order; young larvae, calm bees, no queen cells. All good reasons to be a happy beekeeper today!
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