Burr comb nectar

DSC_0049, a photo by m0nk3yphd on Flickr.

Sarah and Z tasting nectar from some burr comb.  The link shows a great example of comb similar to what we saw yesterday. This was drawn off of the queen cage that was hanging in the hive (to give the bees a few days to acclimate to the queen and release her).  When we went to check she had been released, and you can see eggs in the burr comb. We didn't spot the queen, but hopefully this weekend we'll manage to catch a glimpse (she is larger and also has a red dot of paint on her back, so here's hoping).  It is important that she gets established quickly. The worker bees have about a six week lifetime, so there need to be new workers being reared to take over responsibilities. Since the workers shift jobs based on age, it is important to have continuity of generations, otherwise the hive gets out of whack.