Antici. . . . . . -pation

I thought today would be the day of truth for Hive #4. I started this one with a queen I got that turned out not to be needed by Taylor. I took a frame of brood and honey with some bees from Emily and put them in Hive #4 with the new queen about a month ago, now. It should be all she needs. I figured if I end up with another productive hive then great, and if not, I tried.

She's keeping me in suspense. Like she enjoys toying with me. She's taunting me, I think.

For the third week in a row, I have opened the small nuc box that houses Hive #4. Each time, I expect to see this queen laying thousands of little bee eggs, and each time so far, there are none. But there are other positive signs. It seems that the bees who are tending the queen have somehow grown in number, even though they are obviously not her offspring. Maybe they are expatriates from Meagan, Taylor and Emily. I honestly don't know. But these bees are in the hive, and the queen is still alive and seems to be as lively as her friends. They are not yet drawing out comb, which I think is the hitch with getting her to lay eggs, because they go in the cells.

So I put some honey and pollen supplements on this hive today, hopefully to stimulate the girls as they build up comb.

Today's photos, from the top:

• Ian assisted me today. It seems wrong to teach someone his age to smoke.
• Hive #4, with honey supplement hanging on the front and the entrance reducer in place to keep it easy for a smaller number of bees to defend.
  
• Frames in Hive #4's nuc box.
• Proper smoker fuel (pine needles), rather than the charcoal that caused an incident previously noted here.