Queen be free update!

[diver123]

So for those that read my other post or havnt here is a quick recap. New package of bees. Install went well. Came back to marshmellow the queen and cork got stuck couldnt get it out so direct release insued after 4 days of being with the hive.

Now It has been one week since install and 4 days since the queen was released. Good news is queen spotted and laying eggs. 5 frames drawn out to at least 3/4. I see bees bringing in pollen constantly. I went through each frame just to see what was going on since these are my first. No problems that I saw and bees were gentle. No smoke either. I do wear a jacket,veil,and gloves. A few bees crawl around on the hood and I think they would like to sting me if they could. Those few dont seam happy like the rest are. One thing I did notice is the frames are filling up with either syrup or nectar. I am still feeding them. I didnt see any capped cells of any kind that I recall. The question is will the bees continue to fill frames with syrup so much that the queen wont have a place to lay? Then they swarm. There is a maple bloom here but there is also usually a streach between the next flow of black berry. So is there a way to tell if they are packing away nectar or syrup. I was told that during a flow they will not take syrup. Then seconds later I was told they will take syrup during a flow so much that they will make themselves honey bound and swarm. So a little guidence would be great here. Thanks for the help.

[Aerindel]

Good news. I have four packages arriving in twelve days and I'm starting to get nervous reading about all the problems people have been having this year with installation. My last one went fine and I was assuming that the ones this year would as well but now...I dunno.

I don't have much experience but If it was me and I had five frames drawn in only a week I would be getting ready to add another box in the next few days. It took my package last year a month to draw eight frames in their first deep and that was with feeding the whole time.

[TriJim]

diver - Be happy you have a laying queen and some drawn frames. Keep feeding - let the bees decide. If they want nectar to make bee bread, they'll go get it - otherwise may prefer your sugar water to build wax/honeycomb and some feeding. Most first-year packages won't swarm, but if they do decide to swarm - it will be at least 6-8 weeks after they are installed on new foundation. You'll have plenty of time to add foundation later if you decide they're threatening to swarm. Good luck and keep us informed of your progress.

[diver123]

Thanks trijim.Is it possible for them to become syrup bound and stop laying? There are frames on the side that are not drawn out yet so I would assume they will draw those out to lay.

[TriJim]

Thanks trijim.Is it possible for them to become syrup bound and stop laying? There are frames on the side that are not drawn out yet so I would assume they will draw those out to lay.

The queen is likely already waiting for places to lay more eggs - whether syrup bound or all of the built foundation already filled with eggs. The bees will have to decide the balance of brood and honey, but usually they will build wax as fast as possible - just be ready to give them new foundation when they have 80% of the honeycomb built.

[diver123]

Im ready to add another deep when necessary. I would like to wait till at least the brood that is being laid has started to hatch. Less space for the bees to heat since this is a new package.At the rate they are building comb all frames will be built out with comb in two weeks since I installed the package. These are some serious comb building bees.