3 Hives = tons of honey

Today I went out to check on the three hives. We have had a dry summer and it seems to have had an impact on the hives. My "Celtics" hive which had been slow to get started was wildly busy today. In fact they were completely aggressive as we swapped out the old sugar water (now 2:1). They didn't want us there. So we quickly swapped the feeder and closed up the hive. The other two hives which were very productive early on have been doing well but seem kind of chill.

Right now 2 hives have 2 full supers, one honey super and a third empty super on top to protect the syrup. They are almost too tall for me to work.

Last weekend we went out to strap the hives together. Hurricane Earl was supposed to come to our town so we thought it would be best to strap them down. As it turned out Earl went someplace else.

I have decided not to harvest any honey this year but instead leave it for the bees to winter over. It is a little disappointing, but I think it would be more disappointing to come back in the spring and find empty hives.

Yes, I still tend my bees, barefoot.