A peek into the top-bar hive.
Look at all that capped brood! I lightly blew on the comb to get the bees to move, in order to take this shot. As you can see, the queen is laying a very strong brood pattern. In a few days, these bees will break through and start work inside the hive.
The Queen
After the Queen lays the eggs, they develop into larvae (seen in the cells). When each larvae reach the appropriate stage, the nurse bees cap the cells (bottom left) for the larvae to develop into a pupa and emerge as an adult.
The cell size is CRITICAL to the health of the hive. This comb is 100% natural; there is no foundation on which the bees have drawn the wax. Allowing the hive to establish their own cell size (something that cannot be done with 'store-bought' foundation) helps improve the hive's health. If the cells become too large mites and other parasites have opportunities to ruin the colony.
Landscape of the Comb
No comments:
Post a Comment