Although it’s hard to tell with this many bees in the hive, they have now built comb clear to the lone empty comb that was built next to the queen cage when the bees were first installed (about four months ago).
Can you see the bees with pollen in this next one?
So, my sweet friend A came over a few days ago and a bee got stuck in her hair and stung her on the scalp. It was so crazy! The bee was buzzing so loudly to try to get out of her hair. If anyone wants to keep track, this hive has now stung my beekeeping mentor twice, me once, Adele once, and my friend once. Kent is yet unscathed.
So, August is winding down and I still haven’t fed my bees (I would ONLY feed truly raw honey to my bees). I tried one day, but they weren’t interested. I figure as long as I can still find a bee or two with pollen, we are good. There has been a quite heated discussion among beekeepers in my area about the wisdom of “treating” and “intervening” with the natural habits of the bees. It seems like the people on the beekeeping board mean well and genuinely care about the bees, but they just can’t imagine not treating with chemicals and feeding sugar water. And they really get defensive when people suggest letting bees do what they want to do. I haven’t weighed in because I have no idea what I’m doing and my bees haven’t even survived one winter yet, but I REALLY want to.
I can’t wit to see how yours do. Ours didn’t survive the summer and we WERE feeding them.
Oh no! I’m so sorry to hear that!! I am just watching and not doing anything. I really have no experience with bees! I just pray our bees make it through the winter.
Nicole, how are the bees doing in your Perone hive? I like your idea of a window into the brood nest.
As for letting the bees handle things, ultimately we are all working toward that goal. But for those beekeepers whose bees are under unavoidable stressors like poor forage areas (which is becoming everywhere now), agrichemical field spray exposure, GMO crop exposure, Varroa mites (which our bees are not adapted for), Nosema, and viruses that are new to the bees, sometimes support measures like extra feeding and mite treatments are all that stand between the colony and death. I think we all need to be open minded, learn from each other, and try to find what is best for the bees while we wait for the results of survivor bee breeding projects, and RNAi research into eradicating Varroa and Nosema.