June 22: Full Hive Inspection

Back home to the bees! Ken and I opened up the hive this morning and went through the whole thing--pulled out all the frames checking for honey and pollen and brood. They're doing GREAT: they've filled up the second hive box I put on a week before I left for Greece. It may be time to put on a honey super and start them collecting MY honey.

Oh, and today we tasted their honey for the first time.  Bees build comb wherever they can--not just on the frames and foundation--and it's usually a good idea to clean it up before the hive gets so clogged up it's unworkable for the beekeeper.  We broke off a few pieces of extra comb (called "burr comb"), and one or two had a few cells of honey in them, which we took inside to try. So clear and clean and sweet. Perfect. I'm so proud of them (even if they are really pissed off at me right now).