Watched a bee hatch before my very eyes!

I watched a bee be born a few days ago...at least one.  So I believe I witnessed some of the last batch of bees to be born this season.

What worries me is that I just didn't see a huge number of bees.  It seems that by this time of year, I should see more.  But I saw a bit of brood...not much.  And the bees hatching...I wonder if "hatching" is the right term.  Being born then.

The hive is not the usual setup.  I have all the brood and most of the activity in the upper deep.  And the lower deep is the honey stores.  And the stores aren't all that great either.  I just don't know if I have enough bees to cluster and make it through the winter.

I have closed off the entrance to the 3 inch width with the mouse guard over that.  I just have the two deeps there now.  I will add pollen patties very soon and will need to replenish them often this winter to ensure they have enough food.

At this point, I'll order another nuc soon, for next spring.  I had hoped to go into the winter with a very strong hive but that's not what I'm seeing.

I didn't see the queen there this time but that's not unusual, but with the fewer bees on the frames, I think I should have seen her.  But I didn't check every single frame either.  I spot checked. So that could easily be why I didn't spot her.  She had been active fairly recently given I watched some of her babies be born.

Always a mystery.  I do hope, and will continue to do what I think are the right things :) and try to get these girls through the winter.

brood chamber in upper deep

I feel like I must have switched the deeps around but I really don't think I did.  During today's inspection here was my action list:

• remove supers and take honey for me
• add varroa mite strips to the two deeps
• add sugar water in the top hive feeder
• inspect all frames.
• add mouse guard to hive opening
• mow the grass around the hive in the fenced area

I saw good brood patterns and many eggs, capped and uncapped honey.  It looked good...except all this was in the upper deep.  The lower deep had a lot of uncapped honey; some brood pattern, some capped honey.  I'm worried now that they won't have enough honey stores to get them through the winter.

There is a lot of pollen again now with the goldenrod in full bloom.  I hope they can fill up some of that uncapped honey and cover for their own use this winter.

I did buy pollen patties to help them later on.  I guess we'll see what the next weeks show.

I really wanted to add another deep above the other two but that's probably something I'll want to do in the spring.  Or if I can, I'll start another hive in the spring.  But first I need to see these through the winter.