But my bees aren’t drinking it. I’ve tried putting shallow water with 1/4″ rocks in it, and the bees aren’t taking it; no matter where I put it. I’ve tried within 10 feet of the hive, and more than 10 feet. I’ve tried in their flight path, and outside their flight path. I’ve tried fresh water and muddy water. They’re just not taking it.

As far as I know, there are no swimming pools or hot tubs in the immediate area, but who knows within their two mile normal flying radius. However, there is one water source, but I have a hard time believing they can drink from it. If they can, it’s got all the water they need. About 150 feet from their hive is a salt water inlet.

Now let’s be clear here – this is salt water. Even in the inlet, this water is tidal, and fed from the open ocean.  It’s very shallow at the edge of the inlet, so the water is warmed to about 70-75F on a sunny day. It’s always “fresh” because of the tidal flow, but it’s certainly not clean by human standards, and again, it’s salt water, not fresh.

Doing some Googling, I found a post by Micheal Bush who is considered an Oracle on all things bee:

Bees are attracted to water because of several things:

• Smell. They can recruit bees to a source that has odor. Chlorine has odor. So does sewage. So does stagnant water.
• Warmth. Warm water can be taken on even moderately chilly days. Cold water cannot because when the bees get chilled they can’t fly home.
• Reliability. Bees prefer a reliable source. They will abandon a temporary close site for a more distant reliable site.
• Accessibility. Bees need to be able to get to the water without falling in. A horse tank or bucket with no floats does not work well. A creek bank provides such access as they can land on the bank and walk up to the water. A barrel or bucket does not unless you provide ladders or floats or both. I use a bucket of water full of old sticks. The bees can land on the stick and climb down to the water.

He may be onto something here. The inlet water certainly smells like the ocean. It’s warm. It’s certainly reliable. And there are thousands of places they would land and sip water safely. Could they be making the short trek and living off the salt water? I do have friends who find their bees drink from their outdoor salt water hot tub. If my bees are drinking from the inlet, it certainly would explain away one mystery.

Part of the allure of keeping bees is that there is always a few good mysteries, and curious human minds are drawn to the unanswered questions. Clearly this is one of those mysteries. Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink.

Today I added a Super to make room for growth. While the typical swarming season is behind us, the ladies seem very busy, and almost out of the room. There are still three frames of wax foundation in their original hive that they have not expanded horizontally into, but I’ve read bees like to go vertically up when expanding, and sometimes will ignore more room on another horizontally placed frames.

I debated over and over on using wax foundation for this super, or going without foundation. In the end, I used the wax foundation as I decided this super would be dedicated to the bees, and I won’t be harvesting any honey from this super. Thus the wax foundation, and the small wires within it, won’t be eaten or disturbed.

Now I get to bite my nails for 14 days and hope they will accept the wax foundation as just that – a foundation for their expanded home. I’ve read sometimes bees just don’t like wax foundation and prefer to build their own; a resource consuming process. Here’s to hoping they find it a welcome addition to their Deluxe Apartment in the Sky.

My second full inspection went well, and it’s clear the ladies have been busy. Every frame I examined had more of what it was supposed to have, and seemed pretty full at that. Clearly I have a healthy, laying queen, and all is well in the hive, even though the bees still had not taken to the three additional frames of wax foundation I had added to the hive when I set it up.

As and added bonus, I got to introduce a best-buddy of my daughters to the magic of the hive. At nine years old, she was well versed in the colony structure, even for an adult, but the thrill of holding a brood frame was a new level of experience. You can’t see her smile behind the frame, but well me assure you it was a big one.

The weather has been warm, but with sunny days, and has have kept the ladies happy and busy. I’ll do a hive inspection in a few days, so I’m trying to leave them alone so they can be as efficient as possible. They are still taking syrup, but only a quart every week or so, so I guess they don’t need it, and I’m certainly not pushing it.

I decided it was time to get the kids involved, so I bought a suit for them, and took Hailey out for her first hive examination. So as not to be overwhelming, I only lifted out a single frame, but she got to see all the bees working on the frame, and a few dipping their heads into cells to store nectar. Her highlight was holding the frame and showing her Mom, the photographer.

She was incredibly calm for an 8 year old, and declared the bees were “cute”. She was very curious about touching them, almost as you would be to a butterfly. While she knows they sting, her first sting may change her interest in the future.

I took at a look at the hive at about 2pm today, and found a ton of bees buzzing around the entrance. Considering I rarely see more than 3 on the landing at one time, this looked more like a robbery in progress. But since I didn’t see a single dead bee after it had finished, and it lasted at least 10 minutes, could I assume they were doing figure eights on an orientation flight? I got my bees on the 13th – 14 days ago – so it’s hard to think this is a batch of brood that was just born and taking their first flight.

I wonder what it was?

I had what I believe were sugar ants, the same ones that I have seen in my kitchen, on the hive legs and even going in and out of the hive entrance. I saw this for two days, but as of day three they are gone. Very strange as I did nothing. Maybe the bees formed and eviction squad and pushed them out. I’ll keep checking each day, but for now, the problem has fixed itself. I love it when that happens.

Today is a beautiful summer morning, and I can see workers departing for the flowers ever few seconds and returning with orange pollen.

I had removed the syrup feeder a few days ago as they just weren’t drinking it. I replaced it today, just in case the last batch had gone bad, and they drained half of it today. Clearly this batch was much more interesting.

I’ve also noticed some sugar ants have been climbing up the side of the hive, and I think they may have detected the new syrup. I’ll brush them off for now, but I have a feeling I may need to get more aggressive about keeping them away.

On a related note, we have the sugar ants in the house as well, more than I have ever seen in the house, which I’m almost sure is due to the extremely mild winter we just had.

Now that I am getting more acquainted with what should be on a frame in a hive, let me share the basics.

The area outlined in green is the brood – the babies. In this picture it’s a burnt-organge color, and it’s “capped” or sealed. When the larvae emerge, they will poke their way though the cap of wax and immediately get to work. Note the larvae are in the center of the frame. This allows them to be cared for efficiently, and when honey is needed to feed them, it’s just on the outside.

The red outlines surround the white comb which is capped honey. The honey inside is ready for eating, by either the bees or you. Note it’s on the outside of the frame when there is brood on the frame. If the queen hasn’t laid brood on the frame, there may be 100% honey on the frame, and it’s good to eat. Otherwise you will get a mixed frame, like this picture, and it’s worth leaving in the hive so that the colony can sustain itself.

The thing that I found most striking is that I expected the frame to be organized, like some fastidious housekeeper was making sure nothing was out of order. Unfortunately, that’s just not Mother Nature’s way. While there is amazing organization in the hive, each cell isn’t perfectly ready for laying brood or filling with honey, so it may be skipped over for the moment. The ladies are busy doing what they do best, and sometimes it doesn’t look perfect. What you can be sure of, is that to them, it’s laid out to be incredibly efficient.

And I will admit, left to my own devices, their house looks more organized than my mine, so maybe I shouldn’t be so quick to judge.

Today was a milestone, as I did my first inspection of the hive; well of any hive that is. While I’ve seen it done before, there’s a big difference in doing it, and truth be told, I was pretty nervous. I had no idea what I would see other than a lot of bees in a box, and all the possibilities were mind-boggling.  And even if I did see things, would I understand them. As much as I have read, and listened and learned, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that can replace experience. And today, I got some.

What I found was that the original five frames from the nuc were very much alive and well. The three new frames I had put in to fill out the eight needed for a full box, were untouched. While that sounds strange, I don’t think they really need the other frames yet, as not all of the five original frames were fully in use. The frames are arranged like this: “N/N/O/O/O/O/O/N” where “N” is a new frame with small cell wax foundation, and “O” is an original nuc frame.

I did find that the third and sixth frame (“N/N/O/O/O/O/O/N”) were very heavy, perhaps three to five pounds each, I assume with honey. Simply their weight made me happy they were storing up something as bees and brood just don’t weigh that much. Also, since bees work in a three dimensional space, the outer frames they were working on were heavy, and again, that’s good.

What I didn’t like was that I didn’t see a lots of capped brood (some, but not lots) and since I’m so inexperienced, I don’t even know if these orange colored brood caps are normal. And then there was the black comb that was filled with liquid. Was this nectar that wasn’t fully evaporated yet? Again, I don’t understand the nuances of each stage well enough to know this with confidence.

Since I don’t have a local mentor, and yes, I need one, I captured the inspection to YouTube so I could get comments/recommendations from the beekeeping community. Hopefully they will solve some of the mysteries.

And I know you are wondering… No, I didn’t get stung.

[Update] An experienced beekeeper saw the video and said it looked pretty normal to her. The darker color is just from older wax that came with the nuc, and the uncapped liquid is honey in the making. And the propolis, while hard and brittle in cold weather, is soft and gummy in the summer. So all is well with the hive!