See all of our bee-related posts here, to catch up on the adventure.

After giving the bees time to adjust to their new surroundings – and ordering full-body bee suits – we decided it was time to do a little work. As you can see in the “before” picture, a couple of the hives were on the small side {when bees feel overcrowded, they frequently swarm}, and one was actually a swarm trap and needed to be transitioned into a “real” box.

The white box {aka: “grumpy bees”} on the end appeared to be queen-less when we checked it out, so our plan was to combine those frames with the swarm trap frames, which had evidence of a queen, in a new bigger box. Once we started moving frames, we did notice what appears to be a queen-cell on one of the brood frames, as well as evidence the bees had been incredibly busy since the last look-in. The swarm trap frames also showed evidence of work, but far fewer bees than anticipated, and we never saw the queen – so either she moved into the other box on her own or … who knows? We will see what happens.

The blue and brown “stacked nuc” also got swapped into a bigger box, and those frames were packed. Actually, every hive was loaded – with brood, but also pollen and nectar, and a few even had frames of capped honey! So they’re definitely settling in nicely and living up to the “busy bee” reputation. We added empty/new frames and “second stories” to boxes as we were able, to make sure everyone has the room they need to get ready for overwintering.

After working in the hives two weekends in a row, we’re leaving them alone for a month or so {other than “drive-bys” on the golf cart}, so they can continue building comb and getting ready for winter. We’ll open things up and look inside again before the cold arrives, to make sure everything still looks good.

It was so much fun to open up the hives and see everything going on in the frames. And with our new beekeeping suits I felt protected – although the bees were much calmer in general than in their previous beeyard. I think they like their new home, and hopefully their new owners.