Worker Takes Over

David finished putting the shingles on yesterday!

And today he worked on the ridge caps.

I did a long overdue hive check today and discovered that one of our hives is missing its queen.

This is a photo from our strongest hive.
I added its THIRD honey super today.

Hindsight is 20/20 here... The last time I did a hive check, I had trouble finding eggs in this hive but I finally did find some.  Eggs typically mean that the queen bee has been there in at least the last day so once I see eggs I don't usually look much further.  The fact that I had trouble finding them, and that I only saw a few here and there, should have been more a red flag for me than it was.  This season I have usually been in some sort of hurry for one reason or another while doing my hive checks so I just have to give myself some grace.  We kind of have a lot going on...  Anyway, the bad news is that it seems as though the queen has been missing long enough for one of the workers to have started laying.  The queen's pheromones supress the worker bees' ability to lay eggs and if they do not raise a new one in time, one of them can start laying making the rest of the workers think they have a queen in their midst.  This is bad news because it means that there is a possibility that they would kill a new queen that I try and introduce to the hive since they think they have one already...  I spoke with my mentor and he gave me some advice and has offered his help if I need it.  I've got to do what I can to save the bees!  

In other news, we have an apple in our orchard. 

Just one lonely little apple.
We hope it lasts long enough for us to enjoy it!

Never a dull moment around here!

~Sarah

Flashback!  Here's what we were up to one year ago today: "Picnic Fun"

Two years ago today: "Family Reunion Fun"

And three years ago today: "No Stress Road Trip"

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