It's a super thing!

To note, yesterday was our second full month as beekeepers - and the stinging hasn't dampened our spirits (or at least mine, since John has only been stung once - still not sure how he's managed that...).  When I started sneezing right after the inspection, I lamented that my hope of stings warding off allergies had been soundly written off, but then was tempted to go put my hand in a hive to get stung just to be sure.  I decided not to as it just ain't that pleasant of a feelin'.  On to the inspection!

Our inspection cycle of starting with the "Sicilians" seemed to work.  They were much less agitated for a longer time and neither John nor I got stung.  However, as I've remarked before, these girls are our Jekyll & Hyde hive and change moods about every week.  We'll have to see what they're like next week.  The hive is doing well.  They continue to build comb in the upper body and the population continues to grow.  We removed lots of burr comb from the bottom of the frames and got a tiny bit of honey with it.  It has a pleasant, mild flavor but the smaple was too small to really get any nuance out of it.  By the time we had inspected 7 of the 9 frames on the top body, they were getting agitated.  We'd seen plenty of honey, new comb and capped brood, so we buttoned them up and moved onto the Carniolans.

My thought on the Carniolans is a bit woeful.  They have a lot to overcome if they are to survive the winter.  The new queen needs to stay healthy; they need to survive the onslaught of drones that will hatch in the next two weeks (I think we'll need to remove most of the drones as they really will only drain the hive's resources); a large enough number of the current population needs to hold for on about 8 weeks to raise the eggs that have been laid in the last week; they need to avoid disease, protect their home from invasion; and build up enough stores to make it through the winter.  We decided to not do much more to intervene beyond feeding and tending to the hive.  That said, they are lovely to work with and I would hate to lose them.  They've yet to sting anyone and show huge potential in their persistent attitude.  I have read that bees get nasty or they lose their will to live when they lose a queen, but these girls have just kept pushing forward through it all.  I like that and want to see that trait continue in this little venture of ours.

Last week I purchased to medium supers and 18 unassembled frames, and it looks like it's none too soon!  The medium supers are about 2/3 the size of a hive body and are intended for honey collection.  The first Italians, our happy, productive hive, are really kicking it into high gear.  Last week there were three or four frames in the upper body that they had not drawn comb on.  This week, every frame has comb and some of it was fully loaded and capped.  The frames in the upper body will become their overwintering food.  And, by the looks of it, the Italians will overwinter well! 

Right now I need to get moving on assembling the frames and painting the supers.  By Friday I want to have the supers ready for installation as John and I both feel that within another week, the Italians will be setting aside honey for us.  It really is a super thing!

Bob