When we took the hive cover off, we noticed a little tree frog that had found a nice sheltered spot. Here’s a bee checking out the visitor. And yes, that’s a squished bee next to her. It happens frequently when we inspect. It’s impossible to not squish a few bees each time we open the hives.

As Craig (the bee inspector) suggested, we sifted powdered sugar over the top of the frames to practice treating mites. As the bees get dusted with the sugar, they groom themselves which results in dislodging the mites (if there are any). It’s a safe, non-chemical way of treating for varroa mites.