06/08/2026
When is too much too much?
In keeping bees, you want to do inspections often enough to ward off problems. My husband (the observer) always asks “why are you bothering them again?”
Today, I wasn’t going to bother them. I had the day off and it’s beautiful out and something was telling me ‘Get in there’.
Boy, am I glad I did.
The hive on the left is Park Place. We recently moved it over into the sun next to Raven. When I went in today, I couldn’t find the queen. No eggs in the brood box (bottom box). I KNOW I was so careful putting her frame in last time and I know they haven’t swarmed so what the heck?
💡 I knew she was there so I started pulling frames in the honey super and… BAM! There she was…up in the super. Tons of eggs and brood laid up in their winter honey super. I put her in a queen clip and released her back below where she belongs. We won’t have to worry about these guys swarming. She’s got plenty of room now. So glad I looked because if she had laid brood up in the Flow super, where our honey goes, that would have been a mess to try to clean out. There is a queen excluder grid that goes between the bottom box and the honey super so the queen has to stay in the bottom box. I have no idea how she got above that queen excluder. 🤷♀️
Raven is its own mystery. One hive - TWO queens. Mother daughter duo spotted today. Both are laying. Usually this happens when a queen starts to fail or was poorly mated. The thing is, I never saw a queen cell. No indicators that they were trying to supersede her. More info with the photos.
Never a dull moment. Beekeepers, Listen to your gut - not your observer/husband/partner/friend/peanut gallery… 😂
