Wax Museum

This weekend I went out to the yard to check on my long quiet hives to find that-

they weren't at all empty.

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Inside I found a hive of still bees, preserved from the elements with wax. Some with their tongues out reaching for pollen, others crawling out of comb.

Then I saw this, five bees in the most interesting position I've ever seen on a frame before.

I think the center bee is a newly hatched queen, and the other four are her nurses attempting to keep her warm from the cold.

My hive literally turned into a wax museum.