Miscellany.

I have uploaded a short video to YouTube.  It is Video 6, and it was taken after the hive inspection of this past weekend.  That post (including link to Video 5) is here.

In Video 6, I discuss what to do with the errant piece of comb that I found.

Two other things:

I decided to label the feeder pails so that I can better track what hive is eating how much syrup.

Picture from 5/14/13 of pollen coming in.  Bee entering hive has yellow pollen in its pollen basket on its hind leg.

Pollen coming in.

A few days ago (5/14/13) after work, I watched the hives for a bit and finally saw pollen coming in on the bees's back legs.  A post with an action shot of a bee entering the hive with a full pollen basket is in this post.

No pollen sources yet?

Last night, at 2030, the bees were still pretty active.  It got to 73 degrees in our area.  I watched the hives for about 5 minutes, and I didn't see any pollen coming in.  It's certainly possible that I missed it, or that it was not colorful enough for me to easily see it on the back legs of the incoming bees.

Yet, when I got up this AM, I see one of the weather apps on my iPhone has a "severe" warning for tree pollen counts, for allergy sufferers.  It's going to be 90+ degrees today, so after I get home this evening, I'll check the bees's pollen baskets on their hind legs.

For now, the pollen patties will keep going on the hives as long as the bees are using them.