Update on the two hives.
This is a picture of the apiary with the two hives. The one on the right is the green hive and the taller one on the left is the yellow hive. We put a small water garden in between them to provide them with water. But they prefer the birdbaths.
The green hive has been our concern. We still have the reducer at the entrance because it reduces the entry way and the guard bees have less space to guard. Guard bees keep out intruders such as yellow jackets and robber bees from other colonies that steal their honey. Because the population has been low we did not want to overwork the guard bees.
A large number of bees have emerged. This is the most we have seen on the entrance to the green hive. A few days ago there would have only been two or three bees guarding and a few coming and going. We may have to open up the entrance soon.
By comparison, this is the yellow hive. This one has been going great guns. We removed the reducer so the entire entrance is open and you can see it is full of bees coming and going. This hive has two hive bodies and a total of twenty frames for the bees to raise brood, store honey and pollen.
There is always a crowd at the bird baths.
No comments:
Post a Comment