Bee Hive

Pictures of the removal of our bee hive from the wall of our addition, including the birth of a new queen bee.

Saturday and Sunday, March 18-19, 2000

MVC-001F.JPG wall with hive revealed:
Glistening area at top is honey.
Kidney-sized regions half-way up are brood areas.
The brood area to the left is for workers; to the right are drones.
MVC-002F.JPG closeup of queen womb that's already hatched
MVC-003F.JPG extreme closeup of brood chambers
MVC-004F.JPG closeup of both brood sections
MVC-005F.JPG a new queen's womb about to hatch
MVC-006F.JPG a head pokes out
MVC-007F.JPG ...
MVC-008F.JPG she's out
MVC-009F.JPG ...
MVC-010F.JPG ...
MVC-011F.JPG the newborn queen next to a (smaller) adult worker
MVC-012F.JPG
MVC-013F.JPG another new queen about to emerge

The birth is taking place on top of a blue plastic recycle container. The clear drops are honey dripping from the hive. Estimated yield (as of Saturday evening) is 5-10 gallons of honey.