[RD35]

Brand new bee keepers (my wife and I). Will be posting once in a while with questions as we learn this new hobby! Installed two packages two weeks ago into our brand new hives. We have the standard set-up with bottom board, one deep hive body (10 frames), a top feeder housed in a short super frame, inner cover and telescoping outer cover for each of the two hives. Also have on standby an additional deep body and 10 frames to add to each hive later on once the first set of frames are filled out. We have, so far, added 1.8 gallons of sugar syrup to each top feeder which the bees have consumed quickly. We inspected the hives at 7 days and saw the queen in one of them, but not the other. Both queen cages were empty, so we hoped we had just missed her in the other hive. At 11 days I could stand it no more and re-opened the west hive (the one in which we could not see the queen) to look for her. I meticulously inspected each frame...but with no success. The cell foundation in that hive was now well under construction on 7 frames and there were two frames with capped cells. There were a few cells that protruded outward farther than the others. This gives me hope as I believe this is an indication the queen is doing her job. On both inspections, unfortunately, I forgot my reading glasses, and was unable to see larve planted in any of the cells. Will take the magnifying glass for our next lesson (inspection) later this weekend. Hopefully we will not have to ask for advice on how to install a new queen!

 

[RD35]

Thank-you jrose1970 and Tenbears! It's nice to know I now have a place where I can get good advice and learn from folks who are veterans! I will bee very careful not to squish the queens. What worries me most is both of our queens came with fluorescent green dots on their backs. I feel like I should have been able to see her, but those other bees were just piled up thick on those frames...quite amazing how hard they work. Thanks again!