50% on Derby Day

Saturday was the day that we had scheduled to take a look inside our two hives to see how things were progressing. Saturday morning I had taken a walk in the woods and came back through the meadow where the hives are. One hive was in the sun and there was obviously activity - bees going in and out - the other is in a shadier location, so I thought perhaps the bees are sleeping? That hive was the more docile of the two when we installed the bees, so maybe they are quieter???

Saturday afternoon John and Reg came over and we all suited up to take a peek inside. We started with the quieter hive.... a little smoke, then we took off the outer cover and the inner cover and low and behold - NO BEES AT ALL! They had absconded! What a huge disappointment. John and Reg said there is no explaining it - sometimes that just happens.

We looked inside the other hive and things are very busy in there - comb being pulled, a little honey, no capped brood yet. We will check on them again later this week. We saw the queen, so things are cool there.

As for the other hive...there are a few alternatives. We can look for the bees in the woods - we might find them, although that is unlikely since it has been cold and they are probably inside a hollow tree. Talk about a needle in a haystack! John knows someone that might have a nuc that we can get. Tomorrow night is the beekeeper's meeting so we might find someone there who can sell us some bees.

Sheesh!