Proud Mama (or is it Grandma?)

My sister called me last week and asked if I wanted to take pictures of her new daughters (or would they be granddaughters?) Anyhow, she told me that by the weekend she should have lots of little bee-babies hatching (actually, in bee terms, it's called emerging. Of course I said "Heck Yeah!" Our bee groupies headed to the ranch today to check their progress.

I put on a sexy white suit, grabbed my camera and got to work. If I haven't said it before, my sister is a ROCK STAR. You would never guess she's a novice bee-keeper, she handles those little ladies like she has been doing this since she could walk! She started by making a pollen patty for the girls, it just adds a bit of nourishment to the colony while they're still building their hive.

Every time that my sis goes out and checks her hive, she has a checklist that she goes through; making sure that she documents any changes in her colony. This hobby has such a beautiful precision, it's incredible. I fall in love a little more each time I see these creatures in action.

To keep the hive calm and reduce the risk of stings, Megan smokes the bees, they don't like the smell/haze so they descend down into the hive, this makes removing the frames much easier.

After a basic inspection of the hive, Meg took out the frames where the queen lays eggs, and the workers build their comb, deposit pollen and make honey! We got to see the girls in action. AWESOME, simply awesome!

After checking all the frames, we set out to find the queen! Sometimes you're lucky and can see her, sometimes you aren't. Today we were LUCKY and we saw her doing what she does best; laying eggs!

After checking the queen, I attempted to get some close-ups of the girls! Not great shots, but still pretty stinking cool!

Have a bee-utiful day! <--I'm funny!