Wondering when I should do the first real inspection of pulling out frames and looking for evidence of the queen.
I ask because one hive is struggling a bit because of leaky feeder and don’t want to hassle them too much for fear of absconding. We’ve had some bad weather and cool nights also. I Installed two packages into two 10 frame Langs on May 24th with top feeders. Waited a full week before opening either hive. So this past Saturday I took a look and both queens were released, some burr comb in the usual places but, queen cages still hanging between the middle frames, unfortunately that’s when I discovered the leaky feeder and I had a lot of drowned bees. I cleaned the top feeder best I could, temporarily fixed the leak and just closed it back up without pulling any frames.
Yesterday I pulled the top feeder off so I could repair it. Very little disturbance to the hive. This hive is less active at the entrance then the other. Today (Day 11) I will replace the repaired top feeder but wondering if I should pull a few frames to look for eggs and larvae or give them a few more days since I’ve bothered them a bit the last 2 days?
Thanks!!
I ask because one hive is struggling a bit because of leaky feeder and don’t want to hassle them too much for fear of absconding. We’ve had some bad weather and cool nights also. I Installed two packages into two 10 frame Langs on May 24th with top feeders. Waited a full week before opening either hive. So this past Saturday I took a look and both queens were released, some burr comb in the usual places but, queen cages still hanging between the middle frames, unfortunately that’s when I discovered the leaky feeder and I had a lot of drowned bees. I cleaned the top feeder best I could, temporarily fixed the leak and just closed it back up without pulling any frames.
Yesterday I pulled the top feeder off so I could repair it. Very little disturbance to the hive. This hive is less active at the entrance then the other. Today (Day 11) I will replace the repaired top feeder but wondering if I should pull a few frames to look for eggs and larvae or give them a few more days since I’ve bothered them a bit the last 2 days?
Thanks!!