Friday, June 4, 2010

Hive Check : Cell anomalies and bee births (May 25th check date)

On May 25th I did a check on my hives.  I wanted desperately to find the package hive's queen so that I could put this issue to rest.  I didn't find her, again.  What I did find were some anomalies in the cells.  The center of the top left photo contains a larvae that is not bright white an shiny like it's supposed to be.  It is somewhat shiny but it's not the right color. The top right photo has an unknown substance inside it.  The bottom right photo is of a frame that has drone cells all over it.  Drone cells are usually laid on the outer edge of a frame with worker cells in the middle.  The bottom left photo is another angle to illustrate the cappings.  I really wanted to reach out to my mentor but decided against it.  I want to learn all I can by observing and researching on my own.  The reason you don't see a lot of bees on the frames in these pictures is because I gently shook them off into the box (super).  I wanted to be able to take the photos with fewer obstacles in my way.


                 



There was good news this day though and all was not lost.  I got to see some more bees being born which is always such a fulfilling experience.  The one bee butt you see is probably from a bee cleaning out a cell.  Once they free themselves from their cell they are required to clean it out and prepare it for the next generation. 








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