Stung, But Not By A Bee

This past weekend we finally had a warm, clear day on which we could do a hive inspection.  I had quickly slipped a couple of empty bars in earlier, worrying that the girls might have been responding to the warmer weather with thoughts of expanding, but I was nervous about opening things up in the cool evenings......

My trusty co-beekeeper....

We opened the hive, not knowing what we might find.  There was some wax debris, a small bit of mold, and dead bodies on the hive floor needing to be cleaned out, but minimal insect damage or visible mite issues.  The colony had smaller numbers than I would like, and we had no visual on the queen - but everyone was calm and occupied with work implying that a good queen remains in control....

Some of the girls were busy cleaning and building a bit of new comb, others with the very minimal pollen and nectar stores in last year's storage.  I put out some of their honey, directly in their flight path, to give them a boost.  They've ignored it for 2 days.

We took the bottom board off the hive, to allow for better air flow now that the nights aren't getting too cold. The ventilation should help to help clear up the small amount of moisture that is causing some edges of comb to mold, and I will examine the comb in a week or two to judge the hive's process on their cleanup.  We're keeping 2 of the 3 access holes blocked, until the hive builds its numbers and has adequate guards for the entrances.

Then I got stung.  We had received 5 yards of mulch to pretty up the pathways and top off the perennial beds, and were moving some of that to the garden.  Having picked nettles the day before for our first serving of stir-fried greens, I guess I got  a bit thoughtless around the prickly plants. I put my hand down on a root, and came away with a mildly throbbing finger for my trouble.