Looks like our colony has hit a population boom just in time for the fall nectar flow. Tons of bees out, some guarding, some gathering. The top box is now very heavy to lift as they’re filling it with honey for the winter. They’re also bringing in tons of pollen which you might be able to see. Every 5th bee, or so, coming in looks like they have yellow pants on, which people call “pollen pants”. The bees collect it while getting nectar and then push it onto their hind legs where hairs trap it which causes the effect of looking like they have pants on. They then bring it into the hive and compact it into cells for storage. They use the pollen as protein and feed it to baby bees as they’re growing.
As a comparison to see the explosion of our bee population, here’s the landing board a few weeks ago compared to now. So many bees now.
