Full Apiary again

On June 2, 2023, I got two nucs from Mary Bouma. I installed one in the blue long hive, and the other in the vertical hive. I had only one deep on that hive at first.

On June 9, 2023, I checked all three hives. This is the inside of the long tan hive, which is the swarm hive. The picture is showing the middle section of the hive. The last full frame you see in the picture is frame number 16. I checked and all the frames in front of this frame are full. I only did a quick inspection, pulling out the second to last frame, which had nectar and new comb in it. New wax and sealed honey can be seen on the tops of every single frame, up to the front. I did not pull it apart further to see how much is sealed honey and how much is brood. We will save that for the field day. This colony filled all frames from scratch, many had drawn comb, but some were completely empty.

Here is the nuc in the long blue hive one week after installation. They have obviously built some new comb and have spread at least a frame more since installation. Although the weather has been exceedingly dry, I have been irrigating my property, and they have been bringing in pollen and nectar.

Here is the vertical hive nuc on week after installation. They have spread out over at least another frame or two and there is obviously new wax visible. I did add an empty deep on top of this so they have room to expand. Since it is dry, I hope there is enough forage for them to make new comb. The new box only had empty frames, no drawn comb.

So far this season I have seen no sign of my commercial beekeeper nemesis. Much of our property is swamp land and shaded. I can tell many flowers are dry (no nectar in spite of blooms), but since my sprinklers for my garden beds over spray into my lawn, I have a nice crop of good clover blooming, which I see the bees working. I was planting a flower bed for a couple hours one day next to the hives and saw each hive in turn ramp up activity when the foragers came back with nectar. It was interesting how each was on a different schedule. In spite of three weeks with no rain, the bees are still bringing in nectar and pollen and the hives are expanding.