Bees don't respond well to thunderstorms...

that is all. Actually, that isn't all. Saturday was one of those touch-and-go days as far as weather goes. Most of the day was pleaant and sunny, temps in the upper 70s. This was good, right up until I was inspecting the third frame of the first colony. It started to rain and to thunder. That's when things started to get hairy.

I noticed that the bees were beginning to become more restless. No amount of smoke was calming them down either. As soon as I could, I closed up the hive and decided to leave them alone. Just as I placed the last frame in, a bee stung me on my right thumb and two more somehow made their way into the sleeves of my shirt.The other two escaped without stinging, which was good for me. Regardless, I was a bit frsutrated because I was hoping to get a bit more work done, so I decided to come back later.

After the stormy weather, and about two hours, had passed, I went back out and finished up the work. I cut out the drone frames and added a second brood chamber to colony one. They are developing a lot better now and they have drawn out seven frames in the honey super. My plan is to wait until the first honey harvest and then I will create a nuc from colony one and colony three. Colony two is still about two weeks behind the other two as far as development is concerned. Once the weather begins to stabilize and become warmer, the bees will really take off.

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Hotham Family Apiary

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