The Russians are finally getting their act together!

I checked on the russian hive for the first time in 2 weeks given they were running light on stores the previous time I checked them and I wanted to see how they were doing. When I arived, I noticed exceptionaly heavy trafic at the enterence. There didn't seem to be any guards, some pollen was comming in and most of the bees were returning from the same direction. Most to be learned about a hive before one opens it up is to watch thier behavior at the enterance.

When I opened it the roar of fanning was already in progress. This either means that it's too hot or they're making alot of honey. I pulled out the first frame to find it practicly dripping with the liquid gold! There were still some capped brood in that super but given there were no eggs above the queen excluder, I had clearly successfully gotten the queen below it. Looking into the brood nest, the russians had dramaticly expanded their brood nest. They are now on almost all the frames with brood and have drawn out all but one or two frames of foundation. Some of the comb has been so stored with honey that the bees actually expanded it from the usuall 1" to about 1.5"...and yes that means alot. It means that honey is comming in so strong that with the top super full they need more room...and fast! It's times like this when everything falls into place and beekeeping becomes exciting, in a good way!