Friday, June 27, 2014

2nd transfer of eggs to the new nuc

     I apologize for not having any pictures or video.  The wind was still bad, just as expected.  There was no way to get video without having the wind drown out any other sound.  My hands weren't free since I needed to keep the comb low near the hive and work fast.  This was far from an ideal day to perform an inspection, but I just couldn't let the new nuc flounder any more when they had the new queen cells prepared.  Today I managed to tear one of the combs that was attached to two top-bars.  I pushed the comb back a little.  I am afraid that this won't qualify as a fix. There are several combs that were close to this same state.  I finally stopped this trend with a liberal use of spacers and with the new inch and a half top bars.

     I am beginning to think that with the wider bars, the bees are building thicker comb.  This may only be a matter of perception.  It may be just a result of not having a spacer between the first bar and the front of the hive.  (That is a mistake that I will never repeat again!)  I do know that the comb is straight and centered on the new bars.  They still haven't built the comb down below the wire.  That is not a problem, since are still only about an inch away from the wire at this point.  We should reach the moment of truth in about two weeks when we do an inspection of this hive.  I can say that that the new comb is almost artificially straight.  You will get to see the new comb in about two weeks from now.

     I am still worried since I did not see the queen in this hurried inspection.  I am pretty sure that I didn't transfer her to the new nuc.  I will have a better ideal this evening while observing the hive from the outside.  I have found that sitting near the entrance of a hive and watching the girls work is very relaxing.  It is amazing how few people will come up and interrupt ones musings.

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