Like a useful little notebook

This blog can be.

Just a few notes because by next week, if I don't write them down, the details of today's bee adventures will be overlain by a thick layer of detritus in my brain.

Swarmy hive was split by adding four brood frames to the single-box new swarm hive, put in a second deep box on top of the first. Frames were replaced with a mix of drawn, foundationed, and foundationless frames. That ought to confuse the swarm impulse out of them.

In addition, the bee escape either malfunctioned or I did something else wrong, because far from being empty, the two honey boxes were full, full of Very Upset Bees. I pulled the two boxes off the hive.

The third hive, that I didn't get to inspect yesterday, gave me some grief today. I am trying to love all-medium hives, but so far, the brood nest feels messier -- loads of burr comb, and a lot of drone brood. That tells me this hive is going to want to swarm, too. There was also a few frames of very nice brood, but I only went through two of three of the bottom boxes, below the queen excluder. I pulled a honey super off it, because it was full. Placed a new, empty super on top.

Piled all three honey supers on each other, with a bee escape below. If they're not out tomorrow, I may take it as a sign. Or else I'll use almond extract and get 'em out of there. It's that or purchase an electric leaf blower and "persuade" them out. I'm not up for shaking three honey boxes frame by frame. And I didn't clean the extractor today.

I still am not sure how that bee got up inside my shirt to sting me, though. Sigh.