On Thursday, Mr. Ellis and I opened the hives for spring inspection. I wanted to add a brood box to Nuc #1, Nuc #2 and Hive #6. My goal is to have two full brood boxes on each hive at the end of the season. That should give them enough stores to last all winter without feeding.
The empty brood boxes were put between the original brood box and the super. Normally I would have put a super on top since this is the beginning of our nectar flow and I will later after they have filled the brood box. Weather conditions and the nectar flow will determine what happens in the summer months.
Perfect day to open the hives and the bees were as gentle as the breeze. My bees are very gentle, easy to open and check, and a pleasure to work - they continued working while we worked.
These photos show good brood pattern, lots of bees with pollen coming in, big drones and capped honey - just what you want to see when opening the hive.
