The weather has been horrible this Fall, from the standpoint of both a beekeeper and a gardener. I will record the final total, but I have already received 12 inches of rain in the past 4.5 to 5 weeks. For some of my plantings, especially in the lower areas, I am not sure that their roots have had a bit of oxygen during this time. I am fairly certain that there will be casualties.

When I went out to check on the bees, the weak hive was hopping with activity. The gals were all over the front of the hive, going in and out and otherwise causing me the usual concern.

You always hear about robbing and all of the battling that takes place when it is going on. So, I sat there and watched for 10 minutes or so, sitting up very close to try to catch a bit of foul play.

In all of that time, bees got into a fight one time. I think that was probably par for the course – some random lazy bee from my other hive came over for a free snack of honey and had her rear end kicked out.

Otherwise, it appears to me like they were just out to get some fresh air, enjoying one of the rare dry days over the past 5 weeks.

The other thing of note is the daggone entrance reducer. It should be fairly clear that I was not able to get that into the hive entrance all of the way. Basically, I need to use my hive tool to wedge it in. When I initially tried to do this, it was clear to me that I would have to lift the bottom brood chamber off of the bottom board, which would cause an influx of air. Since it has been both cold and wet, I wanted to wait for a better day to get this done.

At any rate, this is another shot of the bees on ole Hive 2. It should be noted that I do not have nearly the same amount of activity on Hive 1, my (presumably) stronger hive. I watched them from this vantage point for a good while and was unable to find any major skirmishes.

The next goal for these gals is to actually break them open and have another look, if I am lucky enough to get a 60 degree day in the near future.