Supers!

June 25, 2014
I finally decided to follow another blogger's lead, and name my hives after flowers. I've chosen Rose for the larger, older hive that I started from a package in May. I added two supers to the top of Rose, and took the feeder off. I laughed about it after, comparing it to taking off the training wheels from a bicycle for a child :)

The name I've picked for the smaller hive that was started from a swarm is Lavender. Because I already had my smoker lit, and was out there sweating like crazy anyway, I decided to check for eggs and see how the smaller colony was doing. In the hive body, that I only added 5 days ago, there were already eggs and larva of varying ages. This means the queen is doing her job and they are moving right along into the larger space. I didn't feed them any more syrup, because they still had 1/2 a jar.

In other news, I've been reading more about Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and what real research has actually been published about it's causes. It seems like CCD is now used interchangeably to describe the decline in bee colonies overall. Enough people around the country, celebrities, politicians, and the like, are taking notice, and making this news topic "sexier." CCD is a term used a lot in the media, and it gets the attention of average citizens around the country.

This article has a lot of the basics and some of the details covered well:
http://www.takepart.com/feature/2014/06/20/what-is-killing-bees

I also find this link very interesting. The President has finally taken notice and decided the US should start to do something about the problem.

Hope everyone has a terrific 4th of July and finds a festive way to celebrate our Nation's Independence!