May 5: Pollen Baskets Full

5/6
Took day off of work due to severe head cold. High 70's. Gorgeous day. Watched the bees for a long time which is very relaxing for me. Concerned about the Italians, because they are not bringing much pollen in compared to Russians. Decided not to buy replacement queen after all. At the risk of losing the Italians, I'm going to let them try to recover on their own.

5/5
Russians arriving with beautiful red and bright orange pollen in their baskets (see picture from wikipedia). Italians more active around entrance than Russians, probably due to the stress of not having a queen? Have spent a lot of time debating with myself about what to do about the Italians. Since there are queen cells, that means she must have been alive at one time to lay eggs (duh, I should have figured that out. Means I probably killed her.) I do see larvae in a couple of the open queen cells. Still, I'm considering ordering a replacement queen tonight from Mr. Simpson, if he has one to ship. Don't want to drive up there again.

With the bees in my yard, I have to resist the temptation to open them up everyday!