[Epclayton]

This is a top bar hive.
I inspected the bars today.
The queen has been released and Coombs started, three or four small Coombs.

Questions
1) how long before she should start laying eggs?
2) inspecting, bees are hanging in a grid on the bars as I was lifting the bars up. I only lifted them enough to see that they were building correctly. They are. Worried about the queens near the top getting out. Could not really see much coomb cause of all the bees. At what point do I need too inspect the actual coomb for eggs? Do I just knock the bees off?

Thanks much

Eric

 

[ruthiesbees]

Some queens start laying as soon as they are released and have a coin-sized patch of comb to start laying on. Others wait until it's a bit more built out and pollen and nectar are coming into the hive. Sounds like it's still a bit early on yours, but the girls will built out the comb rapidly if there is a nectar flow or you are feeding. (you really should be feeding for a couple of weeks to help them get the comb going). The bees all hanging together are "festooning" and that's how they build the combs. You really don't want to knock them all apart if they are still in the beginning stages of comb building, as it will take them longer to get it going. If it were my hive, I'd leave it alone for another 5 days.

 

[Epclayton]

I am feeding.

Thank you much, that was my plan, to take a look in 5 days.

When I pull the bar up, how worried should I be about the queen getting out

 

[ruthiesbees]

I pull the bar all the time with the queen on it, and I haven't had her fly away. My understanding is that a laying queen is a heavy queen, so she doesn't fly, she waddles.

 

[Michael Bush]

>1) how long before she should start laying eggs?

Somewhere between immediately and two weeks.

>2) inspecting, bees are hanging in a grid on the bars as I was lifting the bars up. I only lifted them enough to see that they were building correctly. They are. Worried about the queens near the top getting out.

Not sure I understand. Queens getting out of the cages? Out of cells? Out of the hive?

> Could not really see much coomb cause of all the bees. At what point do I need too inspect the actual coomb for eggs? Do I just knock the bees off?

New comb is very fragile. Trying to knock bees off is likely to result in broken comb. I'd just leave them alone for a while now that you know the combs are on the bars.

 

[AugustC]

Best leave them alone for a while to build up. Watch the entrance, if there is pollen going in then the queen is laying.

 

[jwcarlson]

Best leave them alone for a while to build up. Watch the entrance, if there is pollen going in then the queen is laying.

Not entirely true as I have a hive without a queen right now that's bringing in pollen.