LOL jack! my hips aren't quite healed yet, but they are well on the way.....fighting mode? i don't fight jack, i just poke fun......especially at you!......
i so much enjoy your posts jack. gotta tell you, me and the mister went through 5 hives this past weekend. these are russian hives, they build slow, and one hive was in 3 deeps we had to kick down into a double deep. first off the weather here can't make up it's mind what it's doing.........we have had cooler temps in april than normal. the 5 hives i have only made it through because of the extra feed i put on them in the fall, and kept on. all were heavy going into fall except the late queen in the 3 deep and all blew through stores (unusual for russians) but we had warm temps into december.
we opened those hives, (still with shims and feed on), the first one, in one week had built comb between the inner lid, through the shim to the top of the frames of the second deep and the queen had been laying.........what a mess and what a mess of mad bees............
ain't nothing blooming here, but there is pollen coming in, so not sure where these russkies are getting nectar?! drones bumbling and flying around, amazing what happens in one week. i didn't bother to go through the frames on every hive, saw enough to know i have good queens.
the hive with the 3 deeps?! getting it down to 2?............lol, not one of my favorite things to do in the spring with a bazillion mad bees but we managed to get it done..........looking for a queen in a bazillion mass of flying mad bees? not doing it............