Busy bees? Queen presence?

[martyjmc]

My bees have been building comb at a rate I am surprised at (5 full combs in twelve days) is this an indication that there is a queen present? Will they build comb and bring in lots of pollen without a queen. This is my first year with bees and I built my own top bar hive. My queen escaped when I helped her out of the cage three days after package introduction. I recaptured her and put her back but am now worried about her being there! Please give me some reassurance or advice!

[David LaFerney]

If it is possible to tell the queen status of a hive by landing board activity it is beyond my ability. I have been intentionally dequeening my hives over the past couple of weeks, and they still work hard and bring in lots of pollen.

But a new package may be different.

Give it a week or so and when you inspect look for young brood - it can be hard to see on new white wax, but after 2 weeks you should see capped brood.

[mrqb]

yes they will bring in pollen and build comb without a queen,is that an indication of queenrite well i wldn't go that far.i take it you are trying to figure out if its queenrite the only way to do that is inspection for her or eggs,but does the hive seem calm ,working hard like they have a sense of direction like an organized army,thats a good indicator