A couple of weeks  ago we went to check out the hive to see if it had started the January build up that happens when "Spring" comes early in the coastal areas.  We saw lots of honey and nectar and some pollen being brought in.  There was brood and we opened up the brood area to make room for new comb.  There were still some empty frames which is always good to see.  The honey stores was in the some cross comb so we'll plan on taking that out for our next beekeeping class coming up on Sat Feb 1st at 8am.  We'll cut out the honey comb, clean up the empty frames, move some brood up and inspect the hive.  The honey comb will need to be put into jars away from the bees.  And then we can share it with the garden at the next work day.

Last week I also took a frame to show the 4H Bee Club kids.  We identified the brood and even saw a queen cell.  It was quite a frame after throwing the bees off and into the hive.  I figured I would go ahead and take the frame since I so many new eggs being laid in new comb.  It wasn't capped so not sure if they were planning on replace the queen or not.  I took a quick trip to Spring Street Farm for an errand and found Kelli was working hard with her young volunteers.  It was a surprise for Sunday so I brought the frame out so they could take a break and check out the bees.