1 Week in...

Well, I opened up my hive to check out what the girls have been up to since I hived them last Saturday.

They had been running through a quart of syrup (1:1 sugar and water mixture)almost every day, which is supposed to be a good sign that things are going well. Yes, and no. The good is that the bees are working their tails off making honeycomb. This is called "drawing comb" in the biz, by the way. "Yeah, my gals drew about six frames of comb last week," is probably what I would say at a Beekeeping party, if I were invited to one. Then I might say,"Is anybody buzzed yet?" Or not. Anywho... the not so good thing is that I didn't notice any eggs laid in any of the comb. Bummer. This means one of two (or about 50) things. The biggest possibility it that the queen just hasn't started laying becasue she is not completely comfy yet. The next biggest possibility is that the queen is a failure and there is a good chance my hive will decline and die. That would be a drag. Apparently I can order a new queen and maybe save the hive, but if I wait too long it will be too late. I have seen the queen and she looks happy and healthy, crawling around being a busybody. I don't really want to give up on her after a week, but this realm of maverick beekeeping is a cutthroat world. I am going out there after school today. If I dont' see any eggs, I will order a new queen, and send my present one to the guillotine.