July 1, I told you that I lost my queens. That is correct. What I didn’t tell you was that I left the top covers off of the bees with the anticipation that the bees would either leave or die. This morning, I checked the hives and even after the rains came with a downpour, the bees are still in three of the hives. I think some of them even combined, as two of the hives had more bees in them. I decided that if they were going to persist, then I would try to save them. I replaced the tops and ordered 6 queens from Rossman Apiaries out of Moultrie, GA .

Friday, if they are still here, I will go to one of my apiaries in Holley, FL and pick up about 6 frames of brood to place in the hives with the bees and restart the colonies. Then when the queens get here, I will continue as if nothing was wrong and just requeen the three colonies. I ordered extra queens just in case one or two don’t make it here alive. I’ll let you know what happens.

Hmmmmm— the bees had me fooled. I guess they just don’t want to give up. This is a typical action of the bees. They have other plans that don’t agree with mine. Keep watching and studying your bees and you will learn that they sometimes do the unexpected. That is one of the reasons I am still in the bee business. I like surprises. 🙂