This afternoon I had a ticket to see the poet Kate Baer in conversation with some of my favorite booksellers at a bakery downtown. Since I’d already made it clear to my family that I’d be leaving for a few hours, I decided to tack on a little visit to the cemetery apiary after getting my book signed. I’d been eager to see what’s going on in the hives since last week.

I had a couple bees chase me on my way out after my last visit (my first sting in ~35 years!!), so I parked a little farther away and suited up. I didn’t bring a ton of gear, but I did carry my smoker.

I sat down on the edge of the plot and just watched them. It was a cool, breezy afternoon, but the sun shone bright. I made some bigger adjustments last week, so I didn’t want to disturb them too much by doing full inspections.

The south hive seemed to have more bees coming and going than it has the last several times I’ve visited. I’m hoping this means that my frame swap last week worked and 1) some of the brood who may have hatched since then are why there were so many more bees outside and 2) they’re raising a new queen from one of those eggs, if that’s what they needed. I saw pollen coming in more frequently than I’ve seen the last few visits too.

I lit the smoker and cracked the top of the north hive to see the activity level in the honey super and was pleased to see a good number of bees crawling around the wax foundations. Here’s hoping that means I will be able to harvest honey this year!