Busy as...

We have the most well-behaved hive of bees, ever. We suited up today and I lighted the smoker for the first time. The sisal rope smolders with lots of white plumes of smoke. It was easy to light and just a few feet of coiled rope was enough for today's tasks.

We drove the cart out to the hive and puffed the entrance a few times with the smoker. A bunch of beed hovered noisily by the entrance in a holding pattern, but they didn't seem to notice us. We smoked the top and opened it to find everyone busy on the frames. Again, none of the bees even looked up from their work.



We refilled the sugar-water feeder, removed the empty queen cage and scraped away some extra burr comb. I eventually gave up on the smoker since everyone was so calm without it. We lifted a few frames to see the progress. There wasn't a whole lot of comb being built, but they've only been in the hive for a week. Considering what a wet, cold week we've had, the ladies were all in a good mood. We didn't find the queen, but our eyes aren't trained to pick her out yet.

All in all, we were finished in about ten minutes. It takes longer to suit up than to work with the bees. I learned last time that my sunscreen agitates them, so I made sure to do the bee tasks before the garden tasks. Now we won't need to bother them again for another 3-4 weeks.

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