The Bees are Fine -- We Think

We came home from vacation earlier this week really wondering if our girls had swarmed while we were gone. Knock on wood, but I think they're fine. It sure seems like it anyway. Karl hasn't opened the hive to check things out yet, but by the amount of activity coming and going, it seems like we still have bees.



I read in one of Karl's beekeeping books that there's a way to estimate the number of bees you had in your hive. You count the bees returning into the hive for one minute. To estimate the number of deep frames of bees in the colony, you multiply that number (the bees per minute) by 30 minutes (the amount of time one bee needs to make a return trip) then you multiply that by .0005. This gives you the number of deep frames of bees and you assume that one deep frame, covered with bees on both sides contains 2000 bees.

I've actually tried to count the number of returning bees, and it seems impossible. They just fly way too fast and there's just too many of them coming and going. I can't imagine ever getting an accurate count. I guess that's why I'm not out doing biology field work.