Supers in Place--and the First Sting

So here's the latest from my two recent trips to the hives:

Thursday, June 20th.

David and I went out to tackle the jungle sprung up around the hives and on the trail.  David cleared a wide opening around the hives and I weed-whacked paths to the portapotty, the shed, and the white, ladies' mansions.  We also removed the bottom-board covers.

I'd say the queens have been managing, since the majority of the bees now seem to be the black of carniolans.  The Italians we installed with the queens are nearly outnumbered!

Friday, June 21st.

I drove out to the hives with David, my son Morgan, and my grandson Wilder.  We were bee sightseeing, but I also took along the supers.  Wilder is three and a half and was fresh from a trip to the Chattanooga Children's Museum, where he dressed in a bee suit and crawled through giant octagonal cells.

So we put on our veils, fired up the smoker, and opened the hives.  All looked great.  The upper deeps each had three frames drawn out, and one had nearly a fourth full.  We shifted one of the full combs in each of the upper deeps to an outer, empty location, and then we added the supers.  Wilder expertly wielded the bee brush to clear girls off the top board.  It was a this point that the major event happened!  David had earlier found a tick on his shorts and removed it.  Now he believed he felt another tick on his leg and swatted.  And was stung!  In his right hand.  The threshold has been crossed.  Note:  None of us wore gloves handling the hive parts and no one else was stung.  The hives, in fact, despite the wind and the gray sky, seemed very placid.

Last thing, we removed the entrance  reducers.