New Tenants / Our First “Wild Hive”

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     So the other day (May 7, 2022), I was doing some yard work and happened by our abandoned hives. I noticed there was some bee activity around the door to one of the hives. I recalled that a couple of weeks ago (back in the middle of April), I had seen a few bees around the same door, but just thought they were robbing out the remaining resources that had been left by the colony that vacated the hive previously. The bees that I thought may have been robbing resources, could have been, in actuality, scout bees. Upon taking a closer look, I saw that bees were taking pollen into the formerly abandoned hive. A little later in the day, I donned the Bee Suit got my hive tool and went to take a look. When I opened the lid, lo and behold I saw bees! I gently closed the hive back up. Yesterday (May 8, 2022), I put on the Bee Suit and took a more in depth look inside.

      The abandoned hive consisted of a double deep brood box and a medium honey super (as shown on the right side of the picture to the left). As I took the telescoping cover and inner cover off, I saw three or four bees frolicking around on top of the frames in the honey super. There was no comb built out in the super, so I took the entire box off. That exposed some bees near the tops of the frames in the top box of the double deep “brood chamber.” I pulled one of the frames out and found a pretty consistent laying pattern. Although I did not spot the queen, I’d say it’s pretty safe bet to say that there is a queen and she is laying eggs.

     I’m told that the reason for “wonky” shaped comb is because the frames were not close enough together, thus allowing them to build outward instead within the confines of the frames. The “wonky comb” doesn’t really freak me out as it is in the brood chamber. I’ll make sure the honey super’s frames are properly spaced and hope the girls have read the “beekeeping books.”