Bee Observations

This morning I was up at farm by 5:30am to feed the bees and do a little gardening.  The bees are really working both the feeders and nature.  I've got a feeling the are using more than a half gallon of sugar water a day, but I am not going to feed them more than every day or so now until they get their bottom two boxes filled for the season.  When I put the medium super on I will pull the feeders.  I also heated the water on the stove for mixing the sugar and it works great!  In the two hours between feeding them and leaving the farm, they had used over an inch out of each jar.

I also took some time to watch them work.  The forager bees would leave the front porch of the hive and make 1-2 circles as they spiraled upwards to a height of about 15 feet and then head off in a beeline to their nectar source.  They were all going in different directions, but they went with intention.  I found the upward spiral fun to watch as I tried to guess which direction they were going to go.  After several minutes of watch, it was time to return to the world of Effingham, but I could see myself watching the bees for a long time.  They are facinating creations!