My bees are doing well, at least they seem healthy and active. The photo I posted shows that they’re growing sideways, the black frames are for them to build their honeycombs on, but they want to BE independent. This was the third times I’ve interacted with the bees and it’s still an unsettling endeavor, I haven’t figured out a solution for my long hair in the beekeeper’s hat. Because I can’t brush hair out of my eyes with the full suit on, I’ve tried wearing a sweatband and a baseball cap, eventually they get dislodged and start floating around the beekeeper’s hat along with my hair. It’s hard enough adjusting to being in the hive, add on occasional blindness and I’m trying to get out of that situation as fast as possible. The queen is free and I assume she’s still in the hive or the rest would leave, she could be staying in the perpendicular combs which means I won’t be able to find her without breaking their structure. There hasn’t been enough time for me to be able to identify the queen and I wouldn’t be able to see anyway, it would be nice to check on her whenever I open the hive. In time I will get more comfortable exploring, for now even with the protective layers I try not to touch any bees, there has to be a natural instinct that is telling my body “no” because even as I write the thought of putting my hand in there makes me uncomfortable. The bees are eating, so that’s good, I replenished their sugar water yesterday and they still had a little pollen patty left. It had been eight days since I last checked on them and the sugar was empty, my plan is to go back this weekend to see how fast they’re drinking and to leave some more pollen patty.
Chris' Morning Pages 