Way past time to check on the bees.
I had only planned on opening Nuc #3 (very little activity in and out of the hive) and Hive #5 (with the new queen). But after I got started I opened all the hives.
My main concern was Nuc #3 - they were really low on food so after checking, I took 3 full frames from Hive #5 and put in the super. What I need to do is take the frames from the brood box in Hive #4 and put in the brood box on Nuc #3. Hive #4 is working on filling out the brood box frames but have a ways to go before filling them out and they have room in the super below so I'll move this around in a couple of days. That should give Nuc #3 enough food for the winter.
Hive #5 with the new queen - well, they're just doing great. Lots of bees and plenty of food.
Nuc #2 - took the top super off - it was empty - moved 2 frames which had a little honey to #5.
Nuc #1 - had some hive beetles but lots of bees and food.
Swarm '09 - a few hive beetles (less than 6) and lots of bees and food.
Hive #4 - all the frames in the top brood box will be moved to Nuc #3 - other than that they looked great. The inner cover on this hive was stuck tight to the top so when I took the top off, everything came off at one time. It was very difficult to get this pulled apart. I guess I forgot to put a stick between the inner cover and the top - I put 2 big ones in there today.
I usually open the hives in the same order every time but today I was so sure I wouldn't be doing all of them, I did 3, 5, 2, 1, Swarm '09 and 4. So I could have moved a lot more frames around and had a better idea of what needed to be changed if I done 3, 4, 5, 2, 1 and Swarm '09 (the regular order - left to right). I really like to do my beeyard the same every time I check them - probably makes no difference but it works for me.
Perfect weather today - a slight breeze but only in the 80's.
Looking inside Hive #4 top brood box.
