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- #81
Maggiesdad
Loving the herd life
1:1 is what you want - it stimulates wax production for drawing comb. 2:1 is for capping syrup in the fall if they're headed into winter low on honey stores.
Today was 26 days since I hived mine... I've got emerging brood and round two eggs already in!
eggs
babies
Today was 26 days since I hived mine... I've got emerging brood and round two eggs already in!

eggs
babies
Have to go back and check the course material... coulda sworn they said use the 2:1 until the first strong nectar flow to help them build comb fast... Of course I DON'T want them storing that as honey! Really, with all the dandelions around here, they probably don't need feeding anyway. But I figure I'll give them one round and see if they take it. Hopefully I'll have some pics up by Sunday evening 
so put on the veil... no stings and no issues! 
I had to dump 1/2 the bees into the hive to get the queen cage out and re-grab it. But both queens were very healthy and active! There were no attendants in with her, but they were all over the cage, making it even more difficult to replace the cork with a marshmallow!
Around here, wood touching the ground for a week, and the termites have found it.
They were both still actively trying to escape when I placed the cages between the frames.
I expect to find the cages empty when I check on them later this week.
There's this old rotted dog house that was here when I bought the place and when I turned it over to start dismantling it, there were, yup, you guessed it... termites! Not a lot and not a major infestation, but they were there. They're not as bad here as other places because of the altitude & cold(er) winters... although that hasn't stopped them from being up north like the great lakes areas and New England
Also, my soil here is almost pure sand... termites don't do well in sand.
What is it but wood pulp after all! And if you didn't know, they will also tunnel vertically through sheetrock/wallboard. They poke little pin hole breathing holes through the paper as they move upwards. 