The hives are going gangbusters. Four of them are doing very well and will probably need to the split soon to keep them from swarming. Will try this in a few weeks. One of the other hives was quite ornery when I opened it - many guard bees were after me from 30 yards out and during my inspections of other hives. Tested my faith in my bee suit.
Spring is early this year so I have put supers on the four established hives. If this keeps up I should have an extraction party Fourth of July weekend. Also planning to process beeswax using my new turkey fryer.
I have put out swarm traps early this year - they were effective last summer keeping swarms out of houses. I also kept a log of where I put them so I do not forget one or two like last year.
Did some brush clearing in the bee yard to make it a bit larger and expose the old stone wall at the lower end. I do not think this helps the bees at all, but it looks tidy.
