*bonk* Food!

Well it would seem obvious but apparently bees, like most organisms, like to have food. Of course I knew this but for some reason I didn't implement it. Both hives have me concerned but for two different reasons. Thing 1 is smaller and they really haven't started to build up or do much flying. Thing 2 however has been flying like crazy and has started building up into both supers, though only on one side.

So yesterday I really started to get concerned about Thing 2. When I cleaned up the balcony on Monday I found at least 10-15 dead bees near the ground of the hive.. I chalked that up to my clumsy inspections. The next day..more dead bees. Today - even more! So obviously there is a problem. I've seen the "break-dance" before and instead of laughing at it I decided to record a video and post it up on the bee forums. It turns out that dance is an indication to where the bees can find food. Now looking at all the bee corpses that are amassing in front of the hive they actually look "thin" their mid section just looks skinny. Finally tonight I get a response on my post confirming this... They NEED Food! When they swarm they don't feed so by the time I got them theres a good chance they haven't eaten anything in 1-2 days or more Add on 3-5 days since we put them in the hive, thats a long time to go without food.

I made two different food dispersion devices...you can buy some but half the fun of being a beekeeper is making some of the stuff yourself. The first is an upside down mason jar with holes cut in the lid to allow the syrup to drain into a small potted plant base. The second is a 30gal ziplock baggy with a cut on the top allowing the bees to drink through it. I like the baggy idea allot but its tricky to figure out how much syrup to add - it tends to over flow when I put the top on. The mason jar is in Thing 1. I added an empty super to give it some seclusion from Thing 2 and I tried the baggy in Thing 2 just tonight. In addition to the baggy I used a spray bottle to get the feeding frenzy going.

One of these days I'm going to light a smoker... one more sting today - this time on my neck. Grand total of 4! I wonder when I'm going to start losing count.