Firstly, looking inside Florence's hive, I can see that the bees are now getting on with drawing out the new combs of wax. This frame was just a thin sheet of wax last week:
They've drawn it out completely, and also filled most of the cells with nectar. You can also see some cells towards the bottom of the frame (left of the photo) that are filled with pollen - they need this to feed the new brood.
The other thing they have started doing is making "queen cells". These are a special kind of cell that bees make when they want to create a new queen bee. This is an important part of swarm preparation, and essential to their breeding cycle. Here's one that I found in Florence's hive:
... and here's another:
As you can see, the opening to a queen cell is at the bottom, rather than the side as with the normal hexagonal cells. Also, it's a sort-of oval shape. If left to their own devices, the bees will spend the next 8 days extending this out to the size and shape of a peanut shell - and then, when they have closed the end of the cell, they will swarm.
Obviously I don't want them to swarm(!) The warmer weather and longer days have triggered their swarming instinct - but, at the moment, Florence's hive doesn't have enough bees to swarm successfully anyway. So, I cut out the queen cells (and the single egg that Florence has laid inside each of them), and remind myself to check again - thoroughly - when I inspect the hives again next weekend.
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