Checking in - are we ready for SMC?

 

We've decided to give foundationless frames a try in one of our hives this year. They were actually pretty easy to make; we just inserted paint sticks into the grove at the top of our deep frames. Once they were painted with melted beeswax, there was no way they were moving!

Before we went into the hives, we took some pictures of the girls. We couldn't believe how busy they were! There was so much pollen going into the hives. We're pretty sure it was pine pollen, as they're located right in a big thicket of pines and they're just starting to drop their pinecones.

So much pollen, and busy busy girls!

There was a lot of activity going on, as you could see. We decided we were going to do SMC as soon as possible after taking these pictures.