Nectar in the outside frame! - pics

I’ve had the Flow Frames on the hive 2 weeks now and have had a hard time seeing just how well the bees are storing nectar since they are usually covering the observation window. Last night it got really cool though, so the girls were huddled down in the brood boxes and giving me a chance at an unobstructed view!





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Great stuff! I noticed in your last videos that lots of bees were copying Marty’s bees trick of facing the wrong way and standing on the perspex… They must be the lazy observers. Perhaps that is why it is called an observation window! :smile:

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They were freeloading! Seriously though, my theory is that those bees, along with the ones that were washboarding outside are younger nurse-type bees that are still too young to forage, but need to temporarily move out of the brood chamber for ventilation or temperature regulation.

I am SO excited that all’s going so well :grinning:

There’s evidence of preparations to cap too.

I really, really wonder what’s going on on the inner frames but am resisting any urges to find out.

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I think, if you watch them carefully, they may be fanning the nectar, preparing it to become honey.
Thats what mine did when i observed them in my hive.

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Hi Bobby, I have had my Flow Frames on now for about a month and by the look of it they have not finished sealing the gaps in the frames. The frame closest to the window is possibly only a quarter sealed up. Do you know if your bees finished sealing the gaps all the way to the top before they started storing honey. There is a strong smell of honey in my hive and on my last inspection of the brood box about two weeks ago there were almost two complete frames of capped honey in the brood box so I was expecting things to really start moving but it seems they just move to their own pace. Great pictures by the way. Really makes me envious. Cheers Paul

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@Rocko67 I think they had sealed all the seams before they started storing nectar. I made sure they were ready for the additional room before I put those frames up there and I rolled a little melted beeswax on the frames beforehand.

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@Rocko67 that was my experience as well. in my hive, the bees didnt store any nectar until ALL the cells were sealed up and all the way to the top.
Then after harvesting, the wax was eaten up and reused to seal all the cells again. They finished that job within a week!
I think that this coming spring (I am in the southern hemisphere), the bees will waste no time prepping the cells, and just go straight into storing nectar :slight_smile:

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