This morning top-bar beekeeper, Chris L., *befriended via Facebook*, visited from southern Ohio with his family to help remove burr and straighten caddywompus combs. It was great to have him up and share insight with me in person, since most of our chats have been online. It was so interesting, I forgot to take photographs!
The hive looks healthy and docile, with a strong productive queen (which was marked today). My only sting for the day was on the foot, when a bee got between my sandal. Chris, who usually gets about 15-30 "casualties" with his hives, received just 2 or 3 stings only wearing a hood. Braver man than I! He said these were the nicest bees he's seen - good to know :) ...but he also informed me they would probably become more aggressive as the years progress.
We used hair clamps to secure some of the combs to the top-bars (photo to come later) and now have a nice set-up to help the bees builder straighter. For the first time, the hive has all the top-bars in place! Chris told me a technique to encourage the hive to build smaller comb, resulting in smaller and even healthier bees - more on that later when I learn more about it.
