On Friday, I had my annual inspection by the state. I would have taken more photos except I was actually busy learning.
Things went well and I learned a lot from the state inspector. She was very knowledgeable and provided some good information. Registering the hives in the State of Maryland is free! Here are some resources on City Beekeeping and the link for the City Registration process that I recently just got done.
What I learned from the visit: I learned that my orange hive is queenless and that I will probably have to combine the two for the winter. When a hive is queenless the workers try to produce new queens, but the hive does is not producing brood and it will be directionless until a new queen is established. Thus, the bees sort move around the hive but, are not really building new comb. If it was earlier in the season, I could introduce a new queen but, it may be too late due to the date. I started these hives later so, I am going to check this week to see if I find out if one of the queens have taken over. We could not spot her on Friday.
The other hive is thriving but, they are a bit aggressive. When I was looking closely at a frame I got too close and I was stung in the face. Being a beekeeper is not easy, but it is fascinating. My lesson is not to lean in so close and I probably need to upgrade my suit. I have a few cheap suits that I got online but, my bee mentor Mick is right, I need a heavier suit. I resisted because I wanted something lightweight for the summer but, this recent sting convinced me 🙂
Over the next few weeks, I will be visiting the hives weekly midday to feed them more so that “the girls” are ready for the winter. I will be changing the formula shortly to the heavier syrup.
The bees are busy right now doing forging because we know that these Maryland 80 degree days are not going to last forever.
Below are some photos that I took of the Park Heights – Woodland garden as left.
Got questions? Leave a comment!
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