The lady bees are still busy kicking the drones out of the hive.  We thought they had removed them all on that first day, but apparently it’s a bit of a longer process.  They even removed a drone larvae the other day – creepy white translucent half-grown bee – ewwww.

Even though they are still foraging a bit, and feeding a bit, it’s time to wrap the hive for winter.  Will and I made an insulating wrap from heavy black plastic and leftover insulation (thank you Alan!)  You basically tuck the insulation in the plastic and then fuse the plastic together using an iron and wax paper.  We wrapped the hive up after the bees had settled down for the night (we tried to do it earlier, but boy were they agitated).  The top of the hive also gets insulated, but we’re still feeding them for the winter, so it’ll have to wait until that’s done.

Here’s hoping they make it through their first winter with us (fingers crossed!)