After getting our packages of bees installed successfully, most of us came back in a couple of days to find that the queen had, in fact, been released from her queen cage. To make sure that we all had viable queens, the mentors scheduled an inspection to be done by a former TVBA president and certified inspector.
It was great to go hive by hive and watch as each owner stepped up and worked with the inspector to locate the queen or confirm that there were eggs in the comb. Once that was confirmed, the frames were replaced and the hives were closed.
While looking for eggs near the center of the frames, the inspector would lightly blow on the bees and they'd move out of the way so the presence of eggs could be seen. Someone commented: "Did they move because of bad breath?" and the inspector said, "Don't eat a banana and go into a hive." Everyone laughed. Then he explained that the banana smells like the "attack pheromone" and you could end up provoking an attack.
That's one I'll remember!
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