CRCT week update

Well, there's not been much to report on lately. And with spring break and now CRCT testing going on, I really haven't had much time to type to you, my loyal readers. For that, I apologize!

It's official, I only had one hive make it through the winter. Italian hive #3 survived! It has been building up nicely, so I decided to try a split the other day. I've never done one before, and I'm sure I did it wrong, but here goes:

I opened up hive three and pulled two frames with capped brood, larvae and eggs. I also noticed that there were about three queen cells started on these frames. After checking for the queen, I moved them over to one of the now empty hives, and replaced them with empty drawn comb. There are honey and pollen stores available to them as well.

So now I wait. I'm praying that it works, and that I haven't completely messed up the only working hive I have!

I'm also planning on getting a package from Don at Dixie Bee Supply this week. I have my son's scout troop coming over, and I need to make sure they have something to see! Don has some pretty docile bees, of the Russian/NWC mix. I'll be interested to see what I get, and I'll be sure to keep you informed.

Until later!!