The blueberry blossoms are winding down and the plants are beginning to set fruit.
The bees have done a stellar job with their pollination chore and the colonies have increased exponentially from the goodness they extracted from those blossoms. The hives are filled with bees. It`s time to add honey supers (boxes) to the top of their colonies so they can begin storing their sweet food.
Before the honey boxes go on, a queen excluder is added to the top of the hive. It is a metal (or plastic) mesh with openings through which the worker bees can squeeze but are too small for the large-bodied queen. This prevents the queen from laying eggs in the honey frames; she stays down below and raises brood in the main part of the hive. These are metal excluders; the dribble down the front is just a bit of wax left from last season.
The bees will be on the move again very shortly, as the cranberry blossoms are almost ready.
Soooo interresting Karen. Yum!
ReplyDeleteOh how I wished I was closer to you. I'd love to learn more about beekeeping, but I can't convince my DH. If we were about 20 years younger, I'd do it without his help. I love honey.
ReplyDeleteSo that's what blueberries look like when growing - I've never seen them! What a lovely fruity honey those blossoms must make.
ReplyDeleteWhen the blueberry fruit is setting, summer is really upon us. Just a couple of more days unti we have our longet day. i wonder if the bees know?
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