OK, some questions about a hive I'm concerned about. Listening to it over the past few weeks with the stethoscope, it went from a nice low humming buzz to only an occasional high pitched buzz, sounding like one or maybe two bees in there. I put on some syrup/HBH, even though it was probably too cold for anyone to feed at the time. I found one dead bee floating in the top feeder, but it doesn't look like anyone's feeding regularly.
Finally, today it was warm and sunny enough to open things up. I didn't pull any frames, just pulled apart the chamber and checked things out. Much to my dismay, didn't see even one bee moving, although i heard someone buzzing a little bit. So I came back into the house, searched the internet and frantically called package suppliers - you know the drill. It's Sunday, so of course no one's taking calls, but I at least wanted try to do something.
So, I head back out to the hive about an hour later. The sun's out, it's probably 10 degrees warmer and now there's three or four flying around the entrance (familiarization flights?), and about a half a dozen more on the bottom board crawling around and looking like they're cleaning themselves off. Also, two floaters up in the top feeder.
Questions... 1) Do the flying bees indicate that the queen is laying eggs? 2) Is there a way to prevent them from drowning in the top feeder? 3) Is the change in pitch within the hive normal for this time of year?
Thanks in advance!
cdykstra
Finally, today it was warm and sunny enough to open things up. I didn't pull any frames, just pulled apart the chamber and checked things out. Much to my dismay, didn't see even one bee moving, although i heard someone buzzing a little bit. So I came back into the house, searched the internet and frantically called package suppliers - you know the drill. It's Sunday, so of course no one's taking calls, but I at least wanted try to do something.
So, I head back out to the hive about an hour later. The sun's out, it's probably 10 degrees warmer and now there's three or four flying around the entrance (familiarization flights?), and about a half a dozen more on the bottom board crawling around and looking like they're cleaning themselves off. Also, two floaters up in the top feeder.
Questions... 1) Do the flying bees indicate that the queen is laying eggs? 2) Is there a way to prevent them from drowning in the top feeder? 3) Is the change in pitch within the hive normal for this time of year?
Thanks in advance!
cdykstra