June 7: Busy as a Russian Bee

When I inspected the Russians on Saturday, I pulled out a frame sparsely covered with workers, many of them with their heads down in the cells! They stayed in that position, even as I rotated the frame. I thought it was funny, so I took a picture.

Honey bees live in highly organized societies. As workers age, they take on new roles in the colony. According to my Beekeeping for Dummies book, these workers are probably about 12-18 days old. I can guess that they have taken nectar from returning field bees and are storing it in cells. They will add enzymes and fan their wings to help evaporate the water to ripen the nectar into honey.

I concluded from my inspection that the Russians are not ready for a fourth box. They still have more work to do on the third floor.

Did you know? In the summer, worker bees work themselves to death after about 6 weeks.