after feeding the bees heavily, we've started fully inspecting the hives again and this particular hive was flooded out due to a faulty roof, we had to wedge a knife between the floor board and the end piece to drain out the water. the bees were doing great despite the puddle in their home.
a roll of wick
candle mold and dog nose
melting down that golden piece of wax we twice-rendered yesterday
pouring the liquid into the tightly bound candle mold with the tip of the wick wrapped around a spoon
we have a candle!
a lovely lopsided candle
after the boys went to bed, kwao and agape shredded up some coconut and threw it in a skillet with honey
after the honey-coconut caramelized beautifully, agape dropped the balls on a plantain leaf (a sustainable substitute for wax paper)
words cannot explain how mouth-wateringly scrumptious this treat was
Agape, Joshua and I sorted through a few more hives. So far, most of the bees have been backfilling the brood-nest with the sugar syrup we've been feeding them. Hopefully by ceasing the feeding, the bees will consume the sugar and continue on expanding without being artificially triggered to swarm. The majority of the hives are much stronger in population with new combs just being drawn out. The queens are laying tight patterns and there is an abundance of pollen-packed cells. We've been noticing white and bright orange pollen on the bee baskets.
Kwao cut the wood to size for hive cover frames. After hammering the frames together, aluminum sheets recycled from the newspaper mill in Kingston (these sheets are only used once then thrown out!) were then hammered on top. We need to ensure that the back end of the roofs are tilted up so the rain can run right off. My hands were pretty colorfull when we were done!
Our usual daily delivery of june plums gathered off the kitchen roof by Joshua
