Beekeeping Week 2: Our first hive check

Well one week after hiving our bees, we did our first hive check.  It was a fairly cool day, so most of the bees were in the hive.  Because of the temperature, we didn't want to disturb the bees too much or take too much time gawking and cool down the hive unnecessarily.  Although we did not spot eggs (the frames were way to crowded) we did spot both queens.  The girls had done a great job of drawing out comb on 2 or 3 frames per hive.  Next week the weather should be warmer and we should be able to get a better look and chance to hopefully spot eggs and larvae.
Brimhall Bees - Youtube

Took off the lid and the feeder.  Our bees haven't been drinking the syrup from our feeder - maybe they don't like the flavor of the additive, or are just getting enough from the natural nectar flow around here.

Using our fun Dadant smoker that my parents brought back from Iowa.

Checking the frames.  My husband checked one hive and I checked the other.  He's the crazy one with no gloves.  Happily,  no one got stung.

As you spread the frames apart, the girls hang onto each other.  So funny!

Removing the empty queen cages.

Can you spot the queen?

Burr comb from one of the hives where the frames were spread by the queen cage.