BEE-L Archives

Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

BEE-L@COMMUNITY.LSOFT.COM

Options: Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 9 Jun 1998 11:43:35 -0500
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (25 lines)
In trying to see eggs (I don't know your age or how good your eyesight is),
even though I wear "bifocals" and my eyes are not as good as they used to be,
I find that if I hold the frame at the correct angle in the sunlight that it
really helps me to see down into the cells and see the eggs.  You have to know
what you are looking for in order to be able to recognize them if they are
there, but seeing them is not that big a problem unless the light is bad or
the frame is completely covered with bees and they are in the way so you can't
see anything at all but moving bees.  Sometimes I have to be patient and look
a couple of times (I don't see them the first time), but if you can find larvae
or various ages, work out from the older to the younger, and then outside of
those if you have "empty" cells, that is often where you will see the eggs.  My
queens also like to lay in "newly built comb" more than they do in old dark
brood comb.  So find out where the action is going on (new brood and new comb)
and take it slow and easy and get the light at the right angle and your eyes
the right distance from the comb and if they are there, they should be
illuminated so they are obvious.  Sometimes my calmness and frame of mind are
just as important as my eyesight when looking for eggs.  Your mind can have a
lot to do with whether you see eggs or not.  They might be right in front of
you and yet you not see them if you are nervous or worried or fearful of being
stung, etc.  Good luck.  I hope this helps a bit.  I think that holding them at
the right angle to the light and taking my time is the trick for me.
 
Layne Westover
College Station, Texas

ATOM RSS1 RSS2