During our visit to the bee farm on March 17, we found our bees doing very well. There wasn't much work to do, except replenish the sugar water in each hive and our work went rather quickly.
While we were inspecting the progress in hive 01, we saw our queen and Mark snapped a photo. We had no idea how amazing this photo would turn out to be. Take a look at the photo below and click to enlarge.
This photo is hands down the most amazing one that we have ever taken of our bees. The first thing to notice is that the bees have spent the past two and one-half weeks working to build this little bit of comb directly on the black plastic foundation of their new frame. We were amazed that they had done this work so quickly. The second thing to notice is the queen in the lower right portion of the frame. She is the apricot-colored bee with the long abdomen. The third thing to notice is that nearly each time we see a queen while we are inspecting the hives, there are several bees surrounding her, facing her and paying all of their attention to her. As is the case here. It is fascinating to see this relationship. The last thing to notice about this photo is so amazing; the bees haven't yet come close to finishing their work with building the comb and yet the queen has laid her eggs. Click on the photo and look at the very top and center of the frame. Inside several of the incomplete honeycomb cells, you can see very tiny white specks. These are her eggs. We never expected the queen to lay eggs inside cells that aren't even close to being finished.
The photo below shows our bees drawing out comb on another frame. They still have a way to go before having the comb completed, yet they have already begun placing pollen and honey in some of the comb.
During our visit, we came across many flowers in bloom. Below are photos of a few.
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| Indian paintbrush. |
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| Linum rigidum |
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| Horsemint |
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| Winecup |
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| Blue-eyed grass flower |
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| Smallflower desert-chicory |
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