I think summer has finally arrived in full force in Austin making inspections a very hot affair. I think most beekeepers will be sporting styling baby blue sweat bands this season.
The girls had gone to town on the 3rd super and most of the frames were drawn out with wax. Large Marge was also spotted in the 3rd super. I didn’t see any eggs, but there were plenty of larvae in various stages of development.
The 2nd super contained the beetle blaster, and I was happy to see several dead beetles floating in the mineral oil.
The frames in the 2nd super had a bunch of honey as well as capped brood. I think a bunch of bees just emerged from this frame as there was one right in the middle making its way out of its cell. Unfortunately, the crop was too blurry to post, but I’m hopeful to one day get a shot of a new bee emerging.
It looked like there may have been a queen cell on the bottom of the frame where my hive tool is pointing. However, it didn’t look like the textbook examples of what a queen cell is supposed to look like. There was definitely some kind of bee inside the cell when I scraped it away. Here’s a closer view, and I would appreciate a second opinion.
Since the 3rd super was getting full, I added a 4th super to the hive. I put the queen excluder between the 3rd and 4th supers to make the top super purely a honey super. I also removed the entrance reducer because I felt the girls were getting a little cramped with only half the entrance available. Large Marge and her hive have come a long way since April, and I’m excited to see what the next few months bring.
Urban Beekeeping in Austin, Texas 
Dude! I’m so down with the baby blue headband.
It’s fashionable and practical!
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