Activity At The New Hive

This was at 4pm yesterday, right before I left for pipe club. I was pleasantly surprised to see the front porch of the new hive buzzing with activity. Monday, after we moved the boxes, there was barely any movement. I think they were in shock. "What the hell just happened?" Tuesday the weather kept them in the hive all day. I checked on them Wednesday morning. Still not much happening, just the infrequent take off or landing. Which is why it took me by surprise when I found the above activity taking place just a few hours later. Here is a shot of both hives during this same time. You can see that the activity level is nearly identical at both hives.

 Hive #1 on the left. Hive #2 (new split) on the right.

Hive #1. It is funny how the bees come out of the hive, run up the front of the boxes, then launch themselves into the air. I think they behave this way to avoid flying into the raspberry bushes that are located not far from the front of the hive.

It's hard to capture with stop action photography but all those little brown blips in the air are bees. At mid-day the air can be thick with them in front of and between the hives. Which is why it gets awkward to try to weed in those areas. They aren't being aggressive but it's hard to avoid having them crash into you. Sometimes they zig when they should zag. We get some interesting "upside down, end up on your back" landings on top of the hive lid.

Today I'll get the top feeders set up on both hives. That should help them get strong. The queen-less hive should be making that determination any time now. They have queen cups already built (they like to be prepared). Fingers crossed that they are able to find a young enough egg or larva to create a queen. These bees are good managers and on the ball, so I have faith they can come through for me. We'll go into both hives in a month and check for brood. If it is present we'll know there are 2 queens.