New Queen : Via Overnight Delivery

Abbot’s Cellar Expansion

We’re excited to announce the installation of two new hives on the rooftop of Abbot’s Cellar! We’ll be mentoring the newest beekeepers in the neighborhood and will be sure to keep their progress updated here.

In the pictures above you’ll see the Abbot’s community prepping the hives and installing the queens on their rooftop. These guys are working with an Italian queen and a local queen all procured from the Beekind this spring. More to come!

Sunrise visit

Feasting

Hey – how are you? I’m good.

Queen in her cage.

Here is our new Queen in her new hive. Upon initial installation the Queen is put in a small cage as the hive adjusts and accepts the queen’s scent.

Cam with his new friends!

Up Close!

We were up visiting the hives last week and sure enough, one of the hives was completely empty! Here is a picture of one of the frames from the bottom super. As you can see there was empty comb and some honey on the left side…

A close-up of the entrance for Hive #2

Bees. Coming and going.

Tools of the trade.

 

Using some shims to make sure the hive is level. Details.

Cam is Going in!

A nice view of our rooftop set-up. Two hives.

 

We Made It!

We’ve got some great news to share. Both of our hives (officially Number 1 and Number 2) have made it through the winter. We obviously don’t want get ahead of ourselves here, but the weather is already warming here in San Francisco and our first deep dive of the new year has proved a success. Both queens are active and laying eggs, though hive number 2 (the hive that previously swarmed and raised a new queen) seems to be the most hearty of the bunch. Check out a quick vid below of the visit. You’ll see how dark brown the comb on the brood frames is as opposed to strictly honey-capped frames!

Spring 2013 Hive Visit