Here's the situation in a nutshell:
July 13: I take bees from a bee tree. Did not get queen. Bring some bees home with 5 frames of tied-in comb in a 6-frame nuc.
July 13-16: Activity in nuc, mostly cleaning out broken comb. Observe a few flying in with pollen.
July 17: Move the 5 tied-in frames into a 10-frame deep with 5 frames of drawn comb given to me by a friend. Observed that they have started to attach the comb. No queen cells.
July 19: Purchase a colony from the same friend, and move it to a location about 6 ft from the single super of tree-bees.
Ever since then I have not seen any bees around the single super. No one on the doorstep, no one coming and going. I peeked under the outer cover, and there are still live bees in there. Any idea what is happening? Are they being affected somehow by the new colony? Have I perhaps overcrowded them with the drawn comb mixed with the not-so-straight tied-in comb?
The new colony is 2 deeps and a shallow strong. I see activity around the entrances, although it looks like they are cleaning(?) the exterior of the box???
Hope I am not doing something wrong...
July 13: I take bees from a bee tree. Did not get queen. Bring some bees home with 5 frames of tied-in comb in a 6-frame nuc.
July 13-16: Activity in nuc, mostly cleaning out broken comb. Observe a few flying in with pollen.
July 17: Move the 5 tied-in frames into a 10-frame deep with 5 frames of drawn comb given to me by a friend. Observed that they have started to attach the comb. No queen cells.
July 19: Purchase a colony from the same friend, and move it to a location about 6 ft from the single super of tree-bees.
Ever since then I have not seen any bees around the single super. No one on the doorstep, no one coming and going. I peeked under the outer cover, and there are still live bees in there. Any idea what is happening? Are they being affected somehow by the new colony? Have I perhaps overcrowded them with the drawn comb mixed with the not-so-straight tied-in comb?
The new colony is 2 deeps and a shallow strong. I see activity around the entrances, although it looks like they are cleaning(?) the exterior of the box???
Hope I am not doing something wrong...