Hannah and Gil fed the bees this evening. Brookie joined us to see the hives. Both feeders were empty so it really needs to be a visit every 48 hours to make sure the food doesn't run out. Although the weather hasn't been perfect, it has been mostly dry and warm and despite that the bees are using the feeders a lot. If the weather is poor I think we will still need to visit every day. We forgot to bring a funnel this evening so had to pour syrup into the feeders in a slow trickle. In hive 1, two workers sat on the edge of the feeder supping the syrup as I poured it into the feeder. It's amazing how they can smell the sugar and sense where it is coming from.
On the walk home we spotted a wild/feral honey bee nest in a garden tree not far from the hives. It is in a large ash tree about 10 feet from the ground with an entrance about the size of one of ours. There was a lot of bee traffic, which led us to the conclusion that it was not our errant swarm. I guess the colony will swarm next spring. Good news if we reach the swarm but not so good if we are held responsible for the consequences. I wonder if the residents of that house know it it there.
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