...light for the first time.

I went to that colony I made from a split and I will now and forever refer to it a the Russian colony. Anyways, I DID IT WITHOUT GLOVES! Hooray for me! I didn't even get stung, I was shaking alot, though. But seriously, I opened it and unlike running up the frames like my Italians they seemed to acknowlage my presence and then continue working. I lifted one fram and there was a patch of 3 square inches of bees chewing their ways out of their cells. I forgot the camera but, I will take a picture next time I see it. It really is a beautiful sight. There were maybe one or two very angry bees that were repatedly trying to dive-bomb my veil and sting my hands. I just shooed them off and eventually they stopped trying. Anyways, there is clearly a honeyflow going on and at the rate this hive is spreading I'll need to put on a super in two or three weeks. I think they're building up faster than my Italians. One thing that cought my eye was one bee that was about half the size of her sisters. She was practicly miniature. I've never seen such a small honeybee. I can't tell if she was malnurished, paracitized, or just sick. I also took off the straps today as well as the bricks and noticed something I overlooked earlier. The bottom board which I converted into a flat top for the Russian hive is warped. The bees should propolise it up in the comming few days but, I should probably replace it. I am, however, noticing that these bees really do use propolis extensively. The cover was practically cemented on and the Top Bars are already covered in the stuff. Cool part is if I start harvesting it I can make floor polish, ointments and just use it as an adhesive. On the plus side is that once this hive really gets growing and uses more propolis the cover won't come off in high wind. I'm not going to open the large Italian colony until next week. I've already disturbed them this week to take their honey.