Pennsylvania State Bee Inspection! Varroa Mites, Sugar Rolls, Babies are Born, and Honey Bound Hives!

The Pennsylvania State Bee Inspector came to visit the bees today on the farm! My mentor, Mr. Fine had given me her name and told me to have her come out and do an inspection which is required by PA State Law.  Bonnie came out and was absolutely wonderful!  Thank goodness I had Travis with me so he could remember details I couldn't.  She was such a wealth of information!  My inspection report came back very very good!  Found one varroa mite on Hive 1 doing a sugar roll and Hive 2 she found one while looking at frames actually on the bee itself!  How she was able to catch that was beyond me!  She gives Travis a run for his money on being the best spotter ever!  Here is a pic of me and Bonnie...notice she does not wear gloves or a suit and I am completely covered from head to toe!

The sugar roll consists of taking a frame (making sure the queen is not present on it), shaking them into a bin, scooping out a cup, putting them in a mason jar with a screened lid along with a tablespoon of powdered sugar.  Gently shake and roll the jar so the bees are coated with the powdered sugar.  Then shake out the powdered sugar onto the bottom of the bin or your telescoping cover.  The mites will free from the bees and will fall onto where you are shaking them while the bees remain still inside the jar.  This is a noninvasive test that will sample your varroa mite count.  The bees can be dumped right back into the hive, No harm, no foul!

Now here is a pic from Hive 2 in which she found a mite on a bee within a frame!  I am so amazed that she spotted that!  She is VERY good at her job!!!

As she was going through the frames, she spotted a baby about to hatch!  Look at this picture...Do you see it?

It was exhilarating to watch a baby bee being born/hatched!  She was wobbly when she came out and Bonnie just directed her in the right direction! Travis and I could not believe how lucky we were to witness that!

And finally, it was definitely time to add a few supers to the hive!  I have stopped feeding the sugar water and added one medium super to each.  There was really very little room left for the queen to lay her eggs because it was so filled with honey and nectar.  So I finally know what the term "Honey Bound" means!!  You can see in the picture that each cell is either filled with capped brood (the larvae or baby bees!), capped honey, or nectar.  No room for the queen to lay eggs!  Hopefully they will work on the super next and she will have plenty of room to do her thing!!