Mountain Hives

Well, I played hookie from school - needed a mental health day and nothing is better for the soul than a day with Clayton and my bees.
We headed up to Ararat (near Levering Orchard) to see whats what and to put a little feed on the bees if they needed it.  Last time we checked on them, they were all pretty heavy except for one that felt a little light.  When we got there, the weather was perfect (about 70) and it was around 10 am.  We stood there and observed them coming and going for a few minutes, then we got the smoker lit and suited up.  I wore my full gear (learned my lesson last year when I got popped on the face 3 times and swelled up into the most grotesque looking person ever - I would have scared Frankenstein.)  One hive had very little action so I was worried about that one.  The first 2 hives I went into had clusters about the size of large grapefruit.  I found the queens right away (not hard when there aren't many bees) they were laying and had some nectar put up, but the food stores were low so we put a gallon or so on them.  The third hive had a cluster the size of my fist, and I have small hands, so that's not saying much.  Saw the queen right away and before I could even lift a frame out, she flew away! Damn!  Guess she's not a laying queen.  My mentor says that sometimes, they will come back so I just left the hive there. But, I'll probably be breaking it down next time I go up.  The fourth hive was a complete deadout!  Bummer!  The cluster was just inches away from plenty of honey.  They even had a full super of honey above them.  It's true what they say, bees won't even move 2 inches if it means they have to break the cluster or leave the brood.  The fifth hive still had plenty of honey and the cluster was grapefruit size like the first 2.  So, I have to recoup my losses by doing some splits when they are ready.   In spite of the losses, I have to say that I felt so relaxed at the end of the day...until the baby started throwing up...ugh, back to reality.