In fact, so busy that they were on the verge of outgrowing their home. (Bad). Today's item on my "To-do" list was to build them an addition. It was also time to remove the hive-top feeder since there are enough flowers for the little insects to start earning their own keep.
Remove the top and........ hey! There's a lot of bees in here......! Removing some of the frames showed that they have capped brood (this is a good thing - it means the queen is doing her job) and a boatload of honey already put away. Out of ten frames, eight of them were full - this means it definitely is time to add on.
Just like that, we doubled their square footage! Ten more empty frames. Wouldn't it be nice if it were that simple to remodel YOUR house? This is a new colony, but at the rate they're going, we may actually be able to take some honey off this year, instead of waiting until next year.
