Check up and Touring Hive2

5/23 Friday
refed hive2 and checked on the colonies growth via the comb/egg/larvae assessment.
Comb; both medium frames are full of brood, with large hanging comb beneath that contains eggs. Larvae elsewhere too. the adjacent deep frames are built out but hanging from the wood not on the plastic foundation. I cut and manipulated this across and around several of the frames to encourage the building out from the foundation.  I also closed off the entrance and opened the top entrance (in the inner cover) currently set at the back of the hive. I felt I'd seen a large amount of robbing by Hive1 bees. Some SHB larvae in the pollen patty and two SHB, all squished.

Hive1, box 3 ~50% are nectar filled. Keep and eye for adding another layer. All the rain we've being having should bring more flowers out.

5/25 Sunday
Bee tour for the family that won it at a silent auction. Brief check of hive2 and all seems good, they have recovered from my ravaging the comb and are starting to build out the deep frames juxtaposed to the deeps the were built on friday. Some sugar solution and pollen stored. One SHB squished.

Currently;
deep(some built), deep(more),  medium (mostly capped brood), medium (50:50 capped brood and nectar), deep (more), deep(some), deep (empty), deep (empty).

refed

Hive2

re-fed

hive2

Hive2 check

Re-fed Hive2 with 1:1 this morning. I also took a quick peek inside. I see no stores! But they have started to build out comb on several of the deep frames. The medium frame that was one of the three I transferred from Hive1 originally was empty.  I replaced it with a new deep frame.
Upside I see somes eggs, and instar 1 to 3. So the queen has been active even if I didn't see her.

New bee stuff

Today our new hive stuff arrived from Brushy Mountain. In the box was a Garden hive cover, a IPM screened bottom board in preparation for the hot summer, an inner cover, and a triangular bee escape.  I install them and re-fed both hives with sugar solution. Hive2 is now organized as listed below. I checked for the new queens activity.

- garden cover
- inner cover
- excluder
- deep 8 frame
- screened bottom board

Mothers Day Lip Balm Extravaganza

For the last two years, I've been saving the wax from our honey extractions. I store it in a tupperware in the freezer. A while back we processed what we had; melting and filtering repeatedly until we had an 8oz block of pure beeswax. Here it is with one last filter to go ...

So today we made lip balm.
 ~2 oz Coconut oil (really it's 5/3oz)
   1 oz Shaved beeswax

Heat in a jar in a water bath.

Add
   1oz Honey
   1/4 tsp Vitamin E oil
 ~1/8 tsp Peppermint extract

Mix thoroughly and distribute to 0.3oz sliding lid metal tins with a 3ml plastic disposable pipette.

Notes for next time
No honey, it was really hard to mix in and didn't add much flavor.
More Peppermint, it only added a subtle tingle.

re-fed

both hives with more 1:1 sugar