Finally, I was able to take photos of my Apis cerana bee frames! The population looks good. I was able to see some nectar in some of the cells which I believe were once brood cells. But I did not see any pollen cells. I also did not see any queen cells, which is a relief. I am sure none of them will take off anytime soon. Last time I visited them, I thought the bees were bearding at the entrance of one of the hive in which I installed the hive converter. I plugged the original entrance so the bees will make their way down the box hive in order to get out. Today, I did not see any "bearding" but just their regular "fanning" to keep the hive cool this summer.
The bees seem to hate having their pictures taken. The moment I pointed the camera at them, they became aggressive and actually attacked the camera lens which was several inches away compared to my hand which is holding the frame. The dark blurry patches on the foreground are bees attacking the camera lens.
Wow!!! This frame is almost completely covered with bees.
Looking down inside the hive. Below the wooden grille is the expansion chamber which I hope, the bees will use in the coming days to come to build their new brood cells. I am converting the frame hive to a Japanese type box hive. It is similar to a Warre type hive but with fixed top bars instead of frames.
Capped brood cells (covered with yellow wax) occupy most of the lower half of the wax comb. This is where new bees will come out. The upper half is a bit new, which you can tell by its light color. The previous owner often harvest the top portion where the bees store their honey. Fresh wax cells are used for raising broods first, then later filled with honey after the young bees emerged. Already I can see some old brood cells (dark colored cells) filled with nectar.
Bees forming chains...
The queen is laying some drone (male) bees... you can tell by the cell cappings... drone cell cappings are dome shaped, bulging instead of flat like a regular worker cell cappings. Drone cell cappings also have pin holes or at least a black dot at the center of the cappings. Can you find the drone cells in this picture?
Some more close-up shots... I have yet to see a live Apis cerana queen... so, if you managed to find her in any of these photos, please let me know!
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