Happy Hive

This is the 26th frame back in my long Langstroth hive. Two weeks ago they had worked up to the 23rd. On that day, I added some drawn comb in between full frames. Then I looked up in the middle section, just behind the brood nest. There were several frames full of capped honey. When I tried to look at them, they were badly cross-combed and the comb began to tear. Then the frames themselves began to fall apart. So I pulled four frames completely out and scooped out the honey with a big spatula. I had to end up crushing and straining that because it was completely broken apart. I then added in drawn comb in place of the honey frames I had removed. Today I didn't pull out those frames to look at them, but they appeared to be filled and capped. I added three more frames of drawn comb behind this last frame. I believe the honeycomb I removed had been attached to the bottom, because they bees seemed to be bearding less after I did that, which I think indicated they had more ventilation.

So, in spite of the commercial beekeeper bringing all his hives back this year, this hive is making tons of honey and is full of happy bees. I am also extremely happy to report that I noticed my farmer neighbor planted a pollinator strip around the edge of his cornfield next to my property. At first I thought it was just some wildflowers growing in the lane, but now there are lovely sunflowers and other wildflowers growing there. It is very pretty, and is giving my bees and the others in the neighborhood a boost, especially since we are in a dry spell right now.