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| Enter the beehive | ||
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There are usually only a few bees at the hive entrance, but this picture was taken at the end of a regular weekly colony inspection. The cloth was used to cover the open brood chamber during the inspection and the bees clustering on the outside of the "National" beehive are all queuing up to go back inside the entrance. The bottom box usually contains the queen and the brood nest. Honey is stored in the boxes on top called "supers". |
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A little while later bees are returning with fresh supplies of nectar and pollen. As it is a hot day some will be carrrying water to cool the hive or propolis to glue everything back together again. Some house bees are still spreading a rallying scent to guide the stragglers, confused by the beekeepers visit, back to the colony. |
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When bees smell smoke they assume a forest fire is burning nearby. They gorge themselves with honey ready to leave their nest before it is consumed by the flames. A bee with a full honey stomach is much like an englishman after a christmas dinner....most unwilling, and possibly unable, to sting anyone. A good beekeeper will always wait a few minutes after smoking the entrance, before he opens the hive. |
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| Click here to see the Queen in her brood nest. |