The Eternal Optimist
March 26, 2018

So, I was so discouraged when I was posting the update that I didn’t include the problems with the other queens.

Queen 1 was dropped as we were trying to install her in the hive we moved from Sherman Oaks to Altadena. That hive was the hive that we discovered had the laying workers so we took the frames away, shook them, and installed the Queen 2.
She didn’t make it. We took that hive down.

Queen 3 was taken in the split Altadena hive which we placed at a nursery near the 118 and the 210. Someone opened the hive and left it ajar, knocking off the entrance reducer. She died in the queen cage. We now think that possibly this may have been a raccoon. Aargh.

We ordered one more Queen, Queen 4 which we placed in the Altadena hive. It did not appear to have laying workers. She was released and we decided to leave her alone for 2-3 weeks. When we checked this weekend, she is still alive, but appears to not have been mated, so she is laying only drone brood. The hive will collapse without strong workers to do all the work in the hive. The drones sit around all day watching tv and drinking beer. Chalk it up to learning. Olivarez bees will ship us another queen overnight and we’ll install her Wednesday.

This weekend we picked up two new hives from Bill’s Bees. Set one up at the nursery and one in Altadena. Here we go again. The Nursery hive now has straps around it to protect it from raccoons or curious people. I also place Nite Guard devices nearby which are solar powered and flash red lights during the night. Night stalkers fear them. Year 3. More to learn.

hey! I am the eternal optimist and this is going to be a great year!