Don't sneeze at the bees...

While my hobbies are about creating things my husbands are geared towards creation...Bee's have really captivated his attention, it's easy to see why they are so busy! Today we went out to check on the hive, Bill who has never been stung, wears all the protective garb. I have been stung oodles of times so I'm pretty sure I am not allergic. Did you know it takes two incidences of being stung to realize whether you are allergic or not? I touched them, I actually placed my hand across the backs of 100+ bee's and they were fuzzy and warm, it was incredible, Bill thinks I'm crazy. Guilty as charged...




In this picture you can see a lot of things going on. The queen (not pictured) lays her eggs in a spiral shape on the frame beginning in the center. This is the bottom corner of the frame, but you can see that the upper right two thirds of the frame are capped off. Those were the first eggs she laid. When the eggs hatch, they become larvae, which you can see on the bottom left, the little curled up plump white guys in the cells. After they fatten up, the cell gets capped off, and they finish their transformation into adult bees. In the upper right corner, you can see a new worker bee just beginning to emerge from her cell. (Beth wants you to know that all the worker bees are female.) See the ones with the white fuzzy backs? Those are newly emerged (baby) bees. Towards the bottom center you can just see a drone, just the top half of his body. Drones are the male bees. There aren't very many of those. (Beth wants you to know they are worthless.) The hole in the corner of the frame is for them to travel through. Right in the center you can see two bees transferring nectar to each other. You can see their little tongue in the close-up view. (Just click on the pictures for a the bigger picture.) Aren't bees so much more interesting than cards?

Thank you Bill for on your insightful mini lecture on bee's now go get your own blog!