Stores aboard

Temperature: 19C
Weather: Warm and windy
Stings: None

Just a quick check as there is not much I can do until I've got the extra bee bits (frames and foundation) that I need. But from what I saw they are doing very well. All the brood in the top brood box has emerged and the entire box is now pretty much full of stores. The foundation that they have draw is a bit gnarly and they got really irritated when I inspected it as a few bees got rolled as it pulled it upwards. Once I've got some fresh undrawn frames made up I'll start swapping out the old stuff. I'm tempted to do a spring extraction as the old frames probably need retiring. I'm not sure I should store them this year to use next. Image via Wikipedia

Downstairs, all is well. There is lots of frame being drawn and brood in all stages. I saw the queen! She is pretty slim but was marching around looking for places to lay. I need to be careful about how much foundation I give them to draw as they could get exhausted if I work them too hard or they may be drawing it in the wrong places.

These feel like good problems to have though as it is about coping with growth not struggling to get them started.