Four weeks ago, I combined my two hives into one. I was hasty. I did it without a whole lot of prep or knowledge. And was worried that I had made a big mistake. That night, as I lay in bed trying to sleep, my brain was going through all the disaster scenarios that I probably caused. Maybe the first hive failed because of disease and I just put all that disease in with my strong hive. Or maybe there is a pest infestation that my dumb inexperienced self didn’t notice and I just offered up my one and only hive as sacrifice. Or maybe the few bees that were left are gonna fight with the other hive and… or.. or.. OR. Oh my god they’re going to abscond or die and WTF DID I JUST DO!? Laying in bed with thoughts of dread, I somehow managed to fall asleep.

The next day, I checked the girls expecting terrible things. But no, once again I am just a ridiculous worrier and they were fine. Well it’s only day one and they’ll probably die next week. So I checked again a week later and they were still doing well. Really well.

Two weeks later, and they are still completely happy. No evidence whatsoever of anything bad. Yes I am a worrier and that was unwarranted, but I also know I got lucky. I should not make hasty decisions without research. But anyway, thankfully, they’re fine. Queenie has even moved up into the new hive box and is doing what she does. Everyone looks good and happy.

They’re doing so well that I’ve added the honey super so they can start drawing comb. It’s mostly empty and no where ready for them to store honey, but they can start the prep work. Resources are aplenty and the population is soaring.

Being back to one hive after having two amplifies all the stress of keeping bees. Yeah, I’m kinda dramatic, but I really love these bugs and want them to be healthy and successful. I was comfortable knowing that I had two hives and having both fail at the same time was unlikely. As my history proves, having two is extraordinarily helpful because I can use the strong hive to strengthen a weak hive. I wanted that comfort back.

So I started another hive. The same way I started in the first place way back in August, I bought a nuc from my bee source and started a new hive with new bees and their queen. So hive #2 is now hive #1 and hive #1 is now hive #3. And that’s stupid, so they’re just this hive and that hive, ok? But just like that, (and after spending $140 for BUGS, yes really), I’m back to two hives.

That was three weeks ago. I inspected both hives last weekend and they’re all happy bees and I am happy to have two hives again. The combined hive is still looking good and all is good in my little bee world.

In other news, I think they are bringing in Cheeto dust. This pollen is so orange it looks just like Cheeto dust. I don’t know what flower it’s from, but it sure looks yummy.

Look at this beautiful pollen!

Bonus shot.. here’s a girl visiting the Salvia in my flower garden. 🐝

Trying that two hives thing again