- The first inspection we didn't see the Queen, however she was out of her queen cage and we found eggs in the burr comb (or wild comb, the comb bees make not on the frames)! That was not only exciting but promising. Though, we did found many (like close to 100) dead bees in the hive top feeder...so that's a mystery!
- Just before the second inspection I saw hords of ants entering and exiting the hive! I was so worried for our girls. I also found lots of dead bees immediatly in front of the hive. However, during the second inspection all looked good, we saw the Queen, and they had drawn out three frames.
- Then we had all that rain! Which I'm sure wasn't good for our colony. Yesterday we performed our third inspection and found several adult small hive beetles (SHB) and their larva! We saw the Queen, though no larva or capped brood. We think the SHB larva must have ate them! Now I'm very concerned!
Now on to a more positive topic! Our Garden...
Though our garden has been a bit neglected, it grows! This is the Traditional row garden, with Potatoes (far left), tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, beans, winter squash, and cucumbers. Also mixed in are a few herbs and flowers (basil and calendula).
This was shared at The Country Homemaker Hop and Share Your Cup Thursday!
-Live Simple, Be Happy-
Magnolia Holler
Yikes, I hope the hive beetles don't become a big problem for you! We've seen several in our hive, but there doesn't appear to be an infestation or anything like that. Your garden looks great! I love the last shot of the toad and how you relocated him to the garden :)
ReplyDeleteYour garden looks wonderful! Our favorite lettuce is french crisp from Territorial Seed in Oregon. :)
ReplyDeletePraying for your hive to make it in spite of the awful shb. I wonder if you can remove all of them you see on your next inspection and add something like fresh peppermint or lavender to the hive box near where the beetles seem to be developing. I don't know. Just hopeful.
ReplyDeleteI just had my first real encounter with wax moth larva. An infestation in a new small swarm hive. It was gross but I squished them all I hope and removed every plastic frame insert to scrape inside the ridges. They were everywhere. I am pretty zire that swarm is history but I sure hope the moths are all gone. Ah. The pleasures of country living. Lol. Good luck. Luv your garden.
The garden looks likes it's off to a good start...wow, you found toads in your yard. I don't think we've ever seen toads around SO California. HAPPY first day of summer!
ReplyDeleteI sure hope you have success with your hive. Sounds really interesting. Your garden looks great. We have little green tomatoes and have been eating lots of lettuce. I planted Butter Crunch and a variety of leaf lettuces. Makes for a great mix. I have not heard of the kind you mentioned. Sound delish! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
ReplyDeletehugs,
Jann