I opened up the hive today, and pulled out the foundation for the first time. The population looked very strong and has been very busy this last week making comb and gathering honey. The only thing missing was brood. In the comb created by the workers the queen should be laying eggs (brood). It could be that the queen is a slow starter, or that the bees have not quite developed the hive to the point of being able to support brood, or worst case, the queen did not survive the move-in phase. Either way, I decided to place a sheet of foundation into the hive that contained a large amount of brood chambers so that I can ensure the success of the colony. If there is no queen in my hive, then the workers will feed royal jelly to one of the new brood and create a new queen. If there is a queen in my hive, then they will not. It’s that simple. In another week I will open it up again and check to see what happened.
I will not place honey supers on top of my hive until the bees are fully self-sufficient. The reason for this is that the bees are being supplemented with a sugar feeder while they build the colony for the first couple weeks. They wouldn’t survive the move without it, but I don’t wish to collect honey that is simply converted sugar because it won’t be as nutritious as the real thing. Of course I would prefer the bees not to eat sugar either, but it is similar to trying to eat healthy when traveling. You eat what is available!
Upon its discovery, sugar was described as “a reed that gives honey without bees.” Upon further examination though, we have found that honey and sugar have a lot more differences than just how they are harvested. Sugar cane is highly refined to produce standard white sugar and contains no vitamins or minerals. Honey on the other hand contains a handful of vitamins and a wide array of minerals. If eaten regularly from local sources it will also help to build immunity to allergens. Also unlike sugar, honey is eaten raw and unrefined; meaning that we get from it many of the other pieces of a healthy diet that science has not yet stumbled upon.
(For all of the chefs out there: honey can be used as a substitute for sugar in any recipe. I find that you need 15-25% less honey than you would sugar, since it is much sweeter. Also, when honey is used for baking you should drop the temperature by twenty-five degrees, because honey browns easier than sugar.)
More updates on the queen next week!
Nathan Miller
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