A Time To Expand.

These are the Playa Vista bees, a swarm I captured off an apartment balcony on March 29, '10.
They stayed in a cardboard nuc until I moved them into this medium super on April 10. The weather has been spotty but nice enough most of the time. In two weeks they filled the original nuc so two weeks later I guessed this super would be full. I had the super with the new wax strips added and it was ready for occupation.

I was right, it was well filled, including the extra space on the right side of the super. When I moved them over from the cardboard nuc they had over filled the space between the last frame and the side of the nuc. Instead of destroying their work I left it that way and put only nine frames in. They have really filled that space now.

Instead of bothering the extra wide frame I pulled two frames from the middle of the hive and moved them into the new super.

I did not do a full inspection, looking at these two frames there was capped brood, honey and pollen. Everything looked in proper order without moving everything around and I did not want to mess with the extra wide frame. Although these were the two middle frames I did not spot the Queen but I did not look closely.

This was the gap where I removed the two frames, everyone seemed happy.

The two occupied frames moved into the new super.

All closed up and receiving the foragers. I love this hive, these bees did not make any kind of aggressive move while I was working them. They have been this way since i first me them. I had the smoker but it went out and I never even used it. Life in the Apiary would be much nicer for me if the Twitchy Bees assumed this kind of attitude. I need to get a couple more supers, the Twitchy Bees hive is now four supers tall and they way they work that will be filled shortly. I might as well have a couple extras standing by for this hive too. They work very hard but do not seem to be a many in number as the Twitchy Bees. It would be a hard call to make if I had to decide between nice bees that make a good amount of honey or the Twitchy Bees that do not seem to like me and make a lot of honey. I hope the Twitchy Bees make a new queen sometime and call up the drones from next door. Is this supposed to be about the bees or the honey or my comfort???