This post is extremely late as I inspected the new hive last Saturday, but work has all but consumed my life for the past week so I’m just now able to take a moment and give an update on Ramona.
Last Saturday, I did a quick check of the hive to make sure Ramona had been safely released from her cage and was out and about in the hive. Here is a shot of the frame with the cage still attached by a rubber band.
I forgot to bring scissors so I had a heck of a time getting the rubber band off without hurting bees in the process. Luckily, my hive tool did a good job cutting through the band.
After a few minutes of searching, I finally spotted Ramona. She has a white dot on her back.
The girls are drawing out comb nicely, and I will most likely need to add a 2nd super to the hive this weekend. The girls are also really sucking down the syrup as Austin is in the middle of a pretty bad drought right now. I can’t even remember the last time we got any decent rain which is a complete 180 from last year when I started Large Marge’s hive.
Urban Beekeeping in Austin, Texas 