A Bit Behind On My Posts...

I've been pretty busy in the last few days. On Sunday 6/1, I drove back up to the fellow that gave me the hive 3 weeks and 3 days ago, and got a 3-frame nuc. Well, it was actually 3 1/2 frames, because there was an extra frame with the beginnings of a comb on it. He showed me something really neat. It was a small clay pot with 4 (or 5?) top bars on top. There were bees in it, with comb! He used it as a mating nuc. The entrance was the draining hole on the bottom, which was taped up at the time. I really liked the idea of using a clay pot to keep bees in it, but the bees cannot be kept in it for long, because they build up so fast. Anyways, back to the bees I got... the bees came in a 5-frame cardboard nuc box. As soon as I got home, I got my OB hive and put the frames in. I saw several eggs, and brood. I didn't find the queen, or try to for I wanted to get the bees in their new home and see how they liked it. So far, So good! After 3 days, the bees sure are flying in and out of the tube. The tube, was first clear and now it's completely orange from all the pollen they are bringing in out out! And on Monday, I actually saw the queen walking around laying eggs! Some people on the forums were asking me why I was making a 5-frame OB hive, for I would not be able to see any brood or the queen. The frame closest to the glass has tons of brood on it, eggs, larvae, and some capped brood. I even saw 2 bees hatch from their cell! Truly amazing how these little creatures live! Here's the order of the frames, PFFFP, P standing for partially filled frames, and F standing for frames filled entirely with comb. I can see the frame with brood, but the bees are starting to build comb in front of the frame, and so we'll see if I get to continue to watch baby bees or honey-making in the process. I have found a bit of moisture condensing on the sides and in the tube at night when the temperatures cool down a bit. I just open all 4 holes covered with screen, and the moisture goes away.
My outside hive, has been transferred to a long hive I just built. I'm really into the TBH, and I decided that the closest I could get to a TBH with frames this year is a long hive, so I built a long medium hive with a screened bottom. The cover is 3 16'' boards, and one of them has a shim for the entrance. So I have a top entrance, and it sure it interesting to watch the guard bees sitting in a row watching every movement. I have noticed that they bees are much more aggressive, meaning that when i come close to them, instead of just ignoring me like they used to, they come right up to me and buzz annoyingly and zip across my face. Perhaps they are just upset about the move and are trying to get accustomed to it. Hopefully. =/ Then yesterday, Tuesday, I put the deep right on top of one end of the long hive. And underneath the deep there were medium frames with Popsicle sticks, and behind 10 frames there was a follower board. The bees can get to the other side by going under the board. The long hive was right next to the original spot, so the bees weren't confused too bad. I checked in to see how they were progressing in their comb building. They weren't building up as fast as I was hoping for them to do so. They only built comb in one frame in 2 weeks, I don't think that's alot, for some hives can fill one medium in 2 weeks! They had lots of honey and brood, so the queen was doing good. I hope they will speed up and start to move down in a few weeks.

I've started feeding the bees today, both inside and outside. I was a bit disappointed in the comb building, so decided that if I feed them a bit, maybe they will speed up, for they need plenty of food to keep the population up and to build comb. I want the bees in the OB hive to be fast builders. You may ask, Why? They would just get crowded and swarm! Well, the clay pot nuc inspired me to try and use it. First I thought I would shake some bees from the outside hive and cut a piece of comb with eggs see how they do. But seeing how slow they were, I decided not to. Instead I'm going to put the clay pot nuc on top of one of the holes in the OB hive, and let the bees build comb and perhaps they will store a little honey up there too! I would probably collect it and store it to feed back to them in winter if they need it. This will keep them bees busy, hopefully busy enough to prevent them from swarming! So far the OH bees are going crazy for the syrup, and I have not checked back in the outside hive yet. I used a hamster waterer for the OB hive, and put it right on top of the screened hole. I put syrup in a plastic baggie for the outside hive, and put it on the outside of the follower board. Will see if the bees are drinking from it tomorrow.
I must think up of some names for the hive, besides the OB hive and outside hive. I think the OB hive should be the Orange hive, because of the orange tube! The outside hive should be the green hive because I painted it green (and yellow).

Will post pictures another time, for I do not have the time to upload them to my computer now.
Have a good night!
Kris