I'm still not allergic!

In hindsight, opening the hives between thunderstorms may have been a poor idea, but I really wanted to add a third box to Jo before she totally ran out of room in the second. On Saturday morning, I sprayed the foundation with syrup, then opened Jo to give the girls more space. Immediately, there was an angry buzz with half a dozen guards head-butting me and stinging me three times! Good news: I'm still not horribly allergic to apitoxin. I did have a quick peak at one of the frames and found eggs, so they're not queenless, they're just not as calm as Meg.

Today I had another look under the covers and while Jo was much more docile, there still seemed to be more angry guards than in Meg when I had a look. I suspect it has something to do with the much slower buildup Jo has experienced, or maybe Jo's queen is just a little hotter than average.

I've got another box of embedded frames ready for each hive, and I've wired another 20 or so. My dad's hives aren't quite as far along as Meg as they're only half done with their fourth box, but they've been collecting nectar like crazy. It's almost surreal (and slightly hazardous) to stand in the middle of their flight paths and watch/hear them zipping past -- a bit like going into hyperspace in Star Wars where each star sounds like a Formula 1 racecar!