I am back to preparing more boxes and frames for expanding at least the good hive for now. I went to Tim's on sunday since he has a workshop with a nailgun, etc. Together in a couple-three hours we were able to crank out 4 boxes and 40 frames (no wax). I will do the wax foundation work at my place since it is so time consuming.
In order to have a box ready to expand in the good hive by monday (I felt I was already pushing my luck by waiting this long already to add a new box), I borrowed a box originally slated for the 2nd hive. For the frames, I cheated on my work, and inserted wax but instead of wiring them (to hold the wax in place) I used support pins instead. It will be interesting to see the difference in each type of frame once the extraction part comes into play.
Also, yesterday, when visiting my hives, I was called in to resuscitate a debilitated mason bee (small bumblebee looking bee). (I wish I'd videotaped this!) Apparently it had been sitting on the deck all day (it was rainy and cool yesterday in seattle)...barely moving. Unsure if it was injured or just tired or weak, I attempted a revival via feeding of sugar water. I took a toothpick and dropped a few drops in front of it. It fumbled around for a bit, but before long I saw its probiscus come out(long tube thing, normally inserted into flowers to extract the nectar). It slurped up the sugar water and fumbled around some more. I repeated the process a couple of times. Eventually, it started cleaning itself off. By this time, I went to go get my camera...but by the time I returned, it had flown off!
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