Hello,
I inspected my new hive (and first hive) this past Friday, which marked two weeks from installing the package. It took nearly a full week for the queen to be released from the cage. I found my queen, but did not see any eggs or larva (I do have an untrained eye). There was definitely no capped brood. The queen was just walking around, there were no bees surrounding her like I've seen in pictures. Most of the cells seem to be full of syrup or nectar, and the bees have been actively bringing in pollen, though there did not seem to be a ton of stores. Lots of bees with there heads inside the cells, perhaps packing the pollen. The bees were started on foundation and they've drawn out about four frames of comb, though not all were complete. I don't know if it makes a ton of difference, but I live in central MA and the weather has been cold, rainy, and unusually windy. The bees have taken, in total, about ten pounds of sugar in a 1:1 solution. They don't seem to be making a dent in the pollen patties, though.
So my question is, is there reason for concern that I do not see eggs, even though I have a queen? Why wouldn't she have all of the workers tending her?
Any help is greatly appreciate, since I'm a brand new beekeeper.
Thanks in advance, Marc
I inspected my new hive (and first hive) this past Friday, which marked two weeks from installing the package. It took nearly a full week for the queen to be released from the cage. I found my queen, but did not see any eggs or larva (I do have an untrained eye). There was definitely no capped brood. The queen was just walking around, there were no bees surrounding her like I've seen in pictures. Most of the cells seem to be full of syrup or nectar, and the bees have been actively bringing in pollen, though there did not seem to be a ton of stores. Lots of bees with there heads inside the cells, perhaps packing the pollen. The bees were started on foundation and they've drawn out about four frames of comb, though not all were complete. I don't know if it makes a ton of difference, but I live in central MA and the weather has been cold, rainy, and unusually windy. The bees have taken, in total, about ten pounds of sugar in a 1:1 solution. They don't seem to be making a dent in the pollen patties, though.
So my question is, is there reason for concern that I do not see eggs, even though I have a queen? Why wouldn't she have all of the workers tending her?
Any help is greatly appreciate, since I'm a brand new beekeeper.
Thanks in advance, Marc