Ready, steady, go

Temperature: 27c
Weather: Hot and sunny
Stings: None (Though they did get really grump at one point)

I had a much better look at them today. I went through the brood box frame-by-frame to see how they were doing. There was sealed brood on five frames, three others were pretty much all honey and the remainder were in the process of being drawn.

Once all the brood hatches it will be a very strong colony. Five frames is a lot. It was all laid out in the classic pattern of a crescent of honey around the brood. I'd guess there's about a week or so to go before they all emerge.

That will be just about in time for the main flow. I need to keep an eye on them to be sure they are okay. So far they have got enough space and are making more room. With all the honey they are producing they will be fine for making the wax they need.

Up above in the super one frame was full, but not sealed and two others were on the way to being full. The feeder was empty too. They have worked so hard over the last few days I'm slightly in awe. I hope its a combination of being in a good spot and a good brood.

Some things to remember for next time. They need a different queen excluder as the flat one I have now regularly gets pushed out of the way by the propolis and wax they are laying down. Plus the spacers I have aren't great. They seem to leave too much space so the bees are building lots of brace comb. Oh, I must also put in a super frame so they build drone brood and I can see how they are coping with varroa.