Foraging ventures

Greetings,  Well, the bees decided to start building new comb up into the bottom board so I decided to switch out the hives and place mine on the bottom, leaving the bees to build down like they want.  In the process I got stung twice, in the same spot no less.  Both happened when I bent over to pick something up.  Guess I should have worn long pants,  OUCH!!!!     To say I got stung is wrong I guess.  When I bent over, my short tightened in the back, causing the bee ( IN MY PANTS) to get squeezed, so she gave me a slight nip with her stinger.  When I stood up, quickly I might add, she stopped and flew out.  The second did the same only with a nip I could readily feel, but still not life threatening on her part.  Still, very gentle bees.

 After two days the bees are building down.  They seem to like the new set-up as they are much livelier.

Went for a walk around the neighborhood to see where they are going to feed.  Found some working the Blue Belt for pollen where they planted Sumac, which are just now starting to flower out.  Further down the lane I saw some working the white clover, which is good as it produces a lot of nectar.  How can I tell if there my bees you ask? well, I just call out there names and if they look up, there mine.  Actually, my bees have a distinctive look and are small compared to most.  Feral bees are almost black and Italians are yellow, mine are midway between.

 Going out with the dogs before the heat hits again tomorrow, so long for now.

Settling in

Greetings to friends and the one other person reading this.

Bee's are making new comb, mostly burr comb in the empty space left by the missing frame.  Bee's busy gathering nectar and pollen and expanding the brood.  It will take a month or so for them to move into the hive above, I expect when they over grow their space.  Took out the entrance closer so more bee's could come and go easier.  The bee's coming back from gathering fly directly into the hive, race to the back and head straight for the depth of the hive to deposit their load.  Not sure where they are going to do the collection but the variance in pollen color is significant, from pale yellow to almost brown.  Will have to take a walk around the neighborhood to see what flowers are in bloom that they are using.  I expect that I can breath easier now that they seem to have adapted to the new arrangement.  They have emptied the feeder so I fixed the leak and will refill and put back tomorrow.  Next blog when they move up into the new hive.

The tension must be intolerable,  Later,  Pete