05/08/09 – First Hive Inspection
Thought today would be a complete washout, but after we canceled our baseball game, we took of for the movie theater to watch How to Train Your Dragon, then off to Red Robin for lunch (and another lost tooth for Will). Once we got back home, it had cleared up, and was prime hive inspection weather.
As I was about to open up the hive, Alexa came running out asking me to wait for her. Huh? The same Alexa who wouldn’t go near the hive last year? She came back out with a veil on, and and was ready to run the smoker. She smoked the bees a bit, and I opened up the hive. The bees had built quite a bit of burr comb in the large space that was made by the queen cage. We cleaned that up, and checked out the frames – things looked pretty good.
We didn’t see the queen, but since it was still pretty cool outside, I didn’t want to leave the hive open too long. Alexa enjoyed being near the hive, and seeing all of the activity. Perhaps our bee class we did for her 3rd grade emboldened her? Or, maybe she’s just getting older? Either way, it was fun having her join in taking care of the bees!
