# Hoping initial panic is due to not wearing the reading glasses when inspecting...



## Buzzlightyear (Dec 4, 2013)

Looks like an underdeveloped drone to me. Maybe the bees were in the midst of pulling it out due to a problem or you rubed it while pulling the bar out. Nice and white is a good sign and the rest of the brood looks good to me.
Buzz


----------



## Tango Yankee (Mar 15, 2013)

You're very probably spot-on, Buzz! 

Well, our panic has cost us only one bar of comb but we've learned a lesson. Wear those glasses, and don't panic until we've done the research!

Cheers,
Tom


----------



## Rusty Hills Farm (Mar 24, 2010)

This is about the time of the year that the workers start to throw out the drones as they start to get ready for winter, so what you are seeing could easily just be the first stages of their "housecleaning".

HTH

Rusty


----------



## estreya (Apr 20, 2014)

I love it when people post photographs, and look at that tunnel! Lovely. These are Bee Thinking hives, yes? It looks like they're in a beautiful setting ...


----------



## Marysia2 (May 23, 2014)

Can't really speak re the white thingy although it also looks to me like a pulled out bee pupa - you could have tried removing it with tweezers to do a closer inspection with a magnifier. As for the reading glasses: I made a determined effort to bring a pair with me today for the inspection and they were in my bucket but...I was already suited up, hood all zipped on and Velcro stuck together when I realized that I had forgotten to put them on. Next time...


----------



## Tango Yankee (Mar 15, 2013)

Estreya, 

Yes, they are Bee Thinking hives! We've bought two, and I've built one using their hardware kit and instructions. The tunnels are cool, especially since we've found that there are Langstroth hive beekeepers who don't believe they exist until we show them photos since foundation doesn't tend to come with tunnels in it. What you see in the background are some fruit trees in our small orchard, with a line of pine trees behind that. We have the last 10 acres of what used to be my wife's grandparent's farm. 

Marysia, 

Yes, that's what happened to me. I was walking out to join my wife who was already working on one hive when she called out to me to suit up where I was because Hive 1 was agitated for an unknown reason. I went back and got the smoker and got it going then put on the gear and was out there before I remembered my glasses. 

Rusty, 

Yes, it could be that as well. It is time to start thinking about preparing for winter!

Cheers,
Tom


----------



## texanbelchers (Aug 4, 2014)

Bifocals do the trick, but I've been stuck wearing glasses since grade school.


----------



## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

I think I see some holes in the drone brood cappings. That in combination with that pupa being pulled out makes me suspect you have have a varroa mite or wax moth problem in your hive. I would suspect a varroa problem. Maybe I'm just overly worried, but have you checked for mite levels? If not, it might be a prudent thing to do.

Another thing, did you see good patterns of worker brood in that hive? The frame you showed is mostly to all drone brood. I hope you have some frames of good looking worker brood in there.


----------



## Marysia2 (May 23, 2014)

texanbelchers said:


> Bifocals do the trick, but I've been stuck wearing glasses since grade school.


They would do the trick if some of us remembered to put them on *before* battening down all the hatches on the beek/astronaut/hazmat suit!


----------



## estreya (Apr 20, 2014)

Tango Yankee, it sounds absolutely idyllic. My husband and i have two Bee Thinking hives as well, and one of the two colonies just loves to make tunnels. The other isn't so much inclined! Go figure ...

Continued good luck with your hives!


----------



## Kdxzoom (Jun 17, 2013)

I always forget my reading glasses, and they don't work great because I have to look over them all the time. So I bought a couple cheap magnifying glasses and they work great! I just keep them with my other tools on top of the bars under the roof. Just be careful not to burn the bees with the sun and be careful where you hold it when not looking through it; I almost burnt a hole in my bee suit!


----------



## HappyBeeing (Apr 6, 2013)

Good to hear from you again Tango!
So you made a third hive. I decided I wanted three this year also! Had one to start that DH made to specs I got, and built my second last year from a kit,but didn't get it filled until a new package this Spring.This year I used scraps to make a third and filled That one with a split. All 3 are doing well along with a nuc from another split. DH doesn't work the bees in any way but he is a good woodworker who cuts lumber for me when I need something.

I get tunnels too,in my first hive at least....saw them last Fall and also this Spring. Langstroth himself cut holes so his bee clusters could move to honey in winter and not starve,it's IN the book he wrote. One I saw was big and had a queen cup in the middle! Working alone I never get pictures but that was a sight I'll never forget. It looked like a heart with a queen cell in the bottom...too cool!

I guess I got into a good habit putting my glasses on before I zip up. When I began bee keeping, forgetting just once was bad enough for me to remember! I look both over and through when working,so I need 'em. I don't have any helpers and I've always known I needed to be able to see;still can't see eggs though and a set-aside-for-inspections magnifier is on my list Too. For me it's the summer headband I often forget and the sweat dripping down my face is my problem. HB


----------



## Tango Yankee (Mar 15, 2013)

Hi, HB!

Yes, the sweat dripping down and running into my eyes is a major issue for me as well; it gets very humid here in southern Ohio. When I remember to, I sometimes put a wash cloth inside my veil to use to wipe the sweat from my eyes as well as wearing a sweatband.

We'll see how our hives do during the rest of the month and going into October. Two hives have drawn comb on less than half of the bars in the hive; the one we did the split from has a bit more than half. It'll almost be like overwintering three nukes! We'll see how it goes. Everyone around here is worried because long-range forecasts for winter predict another bad one. We'll just have to see what happens.

Cheers,
Tom


----------

