Bearding

We have been observing lots of activity on our yellow hive for weeks.  Queen bees can lay up to 1500 eggs in one day so it stands to reason that she can have that many daughters emerging in a day.  After the worker bee emerges from the cell she cleans it up and starts working in the hive building wax or feeding larvae or other such duties.  Then she will become a forager.  She leaves the hive box and spends some time getting oriented and taking some practiced flights.  Which way is North?

You can see why this is called a beard.  This picture was taken early this morning and the crowd will increase as the sun comes up.

Compare it to the green hive which has significantly fewer bees.

Did I say it is HOT?

This is more of a garden update than a bee update but does contain info on the girls.

We were out of town for seven days and it was in the 90s everyday and never did it rain a drop.  This is the result and what we found when we returned home.  The blue berry bushes in pots on the deck are gone.  We have enjoyed them for several years.  Last summer was hard on them and it looks like this summer did them in.

The honey bees found a new source of water since we were gone and did not fill the bird feeder every day.  They finally discovered the lily pad in the fish pond are a good place to get water.

These herbs survived thanks to the jug of water with one small hole in the bottom and the cap on top to seal it in. 













The basil surprised me and I wonder if someone watered this pot.  it was not even wilted.









The fish pond was a little low on water but everyone survived, including the plants. 

The veggies were a little worse for the wear.  We have almost depleated the water in the rain barrel that we use to water them.  Obviously someone needed the moisture and nutrients and took advantage of nice ripe tomatoes.

But they left some for us.