Anticlimax

Back to the scene of the other day's little excitement.

Here's the drone comb I'd cut out the other day. it's sad for the drones-to-be, but good for the hive. Two frames' worth of space opens up, the bees will draw new comb which gives them something to do (besides harassing innocent beekeepers) and the Varroa mites which might be hatching in their cells are taken away. The other day the nurse bees were all over the comb, but they had gone home to the hive by today.

But still. . . were they going to be benign as I moved closer to the hives? This hive is behind a curtain of trees, and I peeked carefully. Notice my toes-to-head suiting? I even used different gloves because they smelled differently.

 

The box of honey I left waiting for me.

Any bees?

And then I remembered I left my smoker by the hive. Anything else?

Are there really no bees in the box?

Really?

Sarafina was still keeping her distance, because she didn't believe me that there weren't any bees. She had seen my face.

But there weren't any bees. The honey box got settled in the car, No bees were harmed or bothered, and today I got about two gallons of honey for my buddy. A good day all around.

The real test will be replacing the box onto the hive1