#beehive

#beekeeping #bees #BeeVideo

A short video of the bees bringing in the pollen today. Lots and lots of pollen.

**Tom** @firephoto@mastodon.social · Mar 14

Mar 14

#beekeeping #bees #beehive

Barely warm enough for the bees to be out but they've found some pink and cream colored pollen somewhere show here in the video. I also saw some sorta bright red pollen too.

The video is half speed.

**Tom** @firephoto@mastodon.social · Mar 14

Mar 14

#beekeeping #beehive #BeeHiveKit

Beehives are like chickens, they keep multiplying. This was actually cheaper than the previous 3 hives. First one I got was a Bee Castle then I got 2 non-branded ones that are the same exact parts, and now another Bee Castle. Like the first bee castle this one has stinky deep foundation but not as bad even though those have been sitting around for 2 years now. I was expecting that and will get more Acorn foundation if needed.

A photo of a cardboard box that contains a 10-frame unassembled beehive kit. It has a sticker from previous shipping, a caution that it weighs more than 15kg, a barcoad, and it says made in China. It also says in orange letters 2 Deep Boxes & 1 Super Box.

A photo of the two deep boxes and the one medium/super box after being assembled and screwed. Pilot holes were drilled through the pre-drilled countersink holes to prevent any splitting. All three boxes are sitting on the bottom board which had screws added to the sides and back since it was only stapled and possibly not glued.

A photo of the telescoping lid inverted with the inner cover within it and the parts for the deep and medium frames bundled on top. To it's right is a stack of 10 yellow medium foundations with the entrance reducer on top of them.

**Tom** @firephoto@mastodon.social · Mar 13

Mar 13

#beekeeping #beehive #apiary

Put a feeder on my Center hive yesterday with 2:1 syrup. Less than 20 hours and more than a third appears to be gone. This was the high population hive that felt light. Consecutive rainy days forecast and not much to forage on.

A square cropped photo showing an inverted glass jar that is inside an empty bee box that is on top of a bee hive. It is about two thirds full of clear liquid that is sugar syrup. It is approximately 625 grams of water and 1180 grams of sugar mixed together. There are some pine wood shavings around the base of the feeder jar. The box acts as a quilt box and feeder shim and has a vented rim that sits on top of it. One of the vent slots is visible near the upper left of the photo. The box used on this one is a medium.

**Tom** @firephoto@mastodon.social · Mar 8

Mar 8

#beekeeping #bees #pollen

The hazels have pollen today and it warmed up enough for the bees to find it.

**Tom** @firephoto@mastodon.social · Mar 6

Mar 6

Bees are bringing in dark yellow pollen today. No hazel pollen and the bees are done with the snowdrops so I'm not sure what they're finding. Tallest daffodil in the warmest spot here is only a few inches sprouted up. Maybe so other kind of early blooming tree around. Whatever it is the bees like it.

A square cropped photo of bees on a landing board of a langstroth beehive. There are bees shown with dark yellow pollen.

A square cropped photo of bees on a landing board of a langstroth beehive. There are bees shown with dark yellow pollen. It is sunny.

**Tom** @firephoto@mastodon.social · Mar 5

Mar 5

This is the "East hive" that has the old queen from the almost 2 years ago swarm. The upper deep box was still heavy so they have plenty of food. No moisture issues from this hive or the "West hive" and it had adequate weight also.

**Tom** @firephoto@mastodon.social · Mar 5

Mar 5

Checked the hives today to verify they had enough food. This is the 'Center hive' and the quilt box was very wet and had a little mold starting to grow in it. I took all the pine shavings out and wiped it down with some tea tree oil soap after I was done checking them. Lots of bees in this hive and I might have to feed it if the weather turns cool or rainy.

Continued thread

**Tom** @firephoto@mastodon.social · Mar 3

Mar 3

#beekeeping #bees #March3

My center hive always has bees landing on me when I'm taking photos, which is only significant because it consistently was the one that I'd get stung by last year.

A square cropped closeup photo of two honey bees on a human's left index and middle finger. The bees are light colored and lit by the sun.

**Tom** @firephoto@mastodon.social · Mar 3

Mar 3

#beekeeping #bees #March3

A warm sunny day and all 3 hives are active but I don't think there's much out here for them to forage on.

Some slow bees to enjoy at 25% speed.

GIF

**Tom** @firephoto@mastodon.social · Feb 28

Feb 28

This is the West hive today. I've seen each of the 3 hives busy now so I think they made it through the winter ok so I'll just have to see how much food they have left one of these days while it's sort of warm. Cooler and wet weather coming they say.

A square cropped photo of the entrance to a langstroth bee hive. There are several bees on the landing board and the front of the hive in the sun along with a some bees flying in front of the hive. The lower box of the hive is visible and is branded with "BeeCastle". The hive stand is weathered colored wood on concrete blocks. The ground has decaying leaves, grass, pine needles, and pine cones.

Continued thread

**Tom** @firephoto@mastodon.social · Feb 25

The East hive which hasn't shown much activity finally decided to do some flights when it warmed up some more and the wind calmed down this afternoon. This is the (likely) original queen I rescued after the split kicked her out or she tried to swarm and I put her in an empty box with one frame of bees. It was the smallest hive going into winter but they had almost two full deeps of food for the winter.

Continued thread

**Tom** @firephoto@mastodon.social · Feb 25

One of the bees that found a nice warm place in the sun to land.

A square cropped closeup photo of a single honey bee on the back of a human's hand. The bee is average color, not dark, or light. It is illuminated by the sun and facing towards the right. It's wings appear to be in good condition and it has a generally healthy looking appearance.

**Tom** @firephoto@mastodon.social · Feb 25

The center bee hive got really busy today for probably less than 30 minutes. It was 50F / 10C when they were flying but the wind was coming up.

Lots of bee poo being deposited on everything including me.

Continued thread

**Tom** @firephoto@mastodon.social · Feb 25

The photos that were put at the end of the video.

A square cropped photo of a single bee in the entrance of a langstroth beehive. It is illuminated by some filtered sun. It is an average colored bee, not dark, not light.

A square cropped photo of bees at the entrance of a langstroth bee hive. The bee in focus in the center is lighter colored. There are some other bees along with some dead bees in the photo. The landing board is stained black.

A square cropped closeup photo of a single live bee on the landing board near the entrance on a langstroth bee hive. It is lighter colored and facing away from the entrance. The landing board is stained black. There is a dead bee with leggs up to the right of it. There is another live bee out of focus beyond it.

**Tom** @firephoto@mastodon.social · Feb 25

Some bees flying today, February 24, 2025, before it started raining.