Ellie and Emerson visit the Droogies

I had to work on Saturday and so we decided to make a family trip to visit the bees. Ellie and I first took a class on beekeeping together in June of 2009 and she was excited to finally be able to visit our hives. Emerson couldn't be left behind in the car, so, as responsible parents, we wrapped his car seat in mosquito netting and brought him along with us, where he slept peacefully through the entire event.

Ellie took some wonderful pictures. In this picture, you can see the bees festooning from the frame, holding on to each other while they form wax into comb.




Here are a few more from the inspection.






It was clear from the inspection that Droogie 1, which was started on foundationless frames, is doing much better than Droogie 2, which was started on standard foundation. Droogie 1 has two full boxes of frames drawn and is working on the third, with lots of honey and brood, while Droogie 2 only has about 6 frames drawn in each of the two hive bodies. There are also many fewer bees in Droogie 2. Ellie and I did see the queen in that hive, so we know she's there, but for some reason they aren't thriving. I'm wondering if she just might not be a great layer. The brood pattern was not awesome. I removed the super that I put on the other day and added a couple foundationless frames in place of undrawn wired foundation. I don't know what else to do other than watch and see if they improve.