Two thriving hives and volunteering (pictures to come)

I haven't checked either hive in a few days, probably let too much time go by.  But they both seemed to be doing well.

In the Blue (strong) hive, when I took off the inner cover there were about 10 hive beetles hiding under the plastic baggie I'm using to feed.  So, they're still in there but at least they are hiding which means they aren't laying eggs.  I didn't pull out the two middle frames, I'd put in empty the last time I was in there, to see if they bees had filled cleaned/filled them.  I might do that tomorrow.  Today was just  a feeding day and I wanted to get in and out as fast as I could. 

In the Brown (nuc) hive, when I took off the cover I saw NO beetles running amuk.  There were beetles in the trap though, which made me feel pretty good.  Also, the dirty frames I'd put in the last time I was in there were all cleaned out!  I'm amazed that they do that.  I may try to get pictures tomorrow, we'll see how the weather is.  The frames in Brown were originaly like this : E E H/B H/B E.  (empty, empty, honey/brood, honey/brood, empty).  I switched them around so now it's H/B, E, E, E, H/B.  When I switched the H frames into Brown from Blue (last visit) I should have put them on the outside because bees work from the inside out.  So I just switched them around and now the bees should use the 1:1 that I put in there today to fill out the middle frames.

In addition to my own beekeeping, I'm now volunteering with the Sustainable Honeybee Program.  If you live in the area and want to learn more about bees, I would suggest contacting them.   The more you know about bees and the more you get involved the more fun it is.  Aside from being a great hobby, it's a very important hobby as well.  Without pollinators we wouldn't have many of the food options we enjoy today.

Here is a link to beekeepers in the United States.  Get involved, you won't be sad you did!