First proper look inside the hives. SFO is thriving in the upper-deep but seems to have chalk-brood in the lower deep. Serious, but not fatal according to Beekeeping for Dummies. We'll give them a new brood-box and clean frames this weekend when we switch the deeps around. Still, there was a nasty slug alongside the follower board. Most of their winter honey stores are gone. I'm worried that they were building drone cells in the honey supers, however.
Kennedy Hive is no more. I suspect population loss made for a cruel winter. Most of the honey still in the combs. There's mold on the honey super frames and on the deep frames as well. This was the hive that had virgin frames and lost a great deal of time against SFO building their comb. We're hoping that SFO will need a split and we can restock with that.
Other weekend chores: Mulched the picnic areas and part of the back main path with help from neighbors.
Stylist at the salon and I talked about bad practices in local chicken farming. She recommends "Skippy's" in Petaluma as a source for genuine free-range eggs.
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