Yesterday, we had an exciting time checking the hives. Matt got his first sting. It was just a thumb in the wrong place, wrong time. He felt bad for the bee's death. It was interesting how quickly the other bees reacted to the stinging. Some of the bees buzzed louder and flew at us for a few seconds, then they quieted down when we stayed calm. The bees think there is danger when a another bee stings because they can detect the pharemones. In Matt's hive, the larvae are getting big as you can see below.
After about 6 days after the egg is laid, the nurse bees cap the cell with wax and the larvae pupate into adult bees. In the picture below, you can see the capped cells. Matt's hive will have lots of new bees soon!
Mine are getting busy as well with a few capped brood. As we were checking my hive, I noticed a worker bee doing a bee dance! Matt saw it too, she was walking in a pattern and then she would shake her body very quickly. She repeated this a few times with other bees crowded around watching. She was telling the other bees where the food was. Maybe it was the waggle dance. It was fantastic to witness! I bet she was telling them about the cabbage flowers in my garden.
Some of the cabbage and kale in our vegetable garden survived the winter. I decided to let a few of them go to flower so the bees could have some nectar. And to make room for new veggies. The flowers are quite nice to look at as well!
Look at that little bee hard at work!
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