I approached the hive today with both water mister and smoker, just in case. Turned out I didn't really need the smoker at all, though by the end, a couple of fairly annoyed bees bounced rather huffily off my head net
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There was some new comb drawn. You can see the persistent pattern of cross combing (not as overwhelming as it seemed first time around) where the edge of one comb kind of abuts up against the top of the adjacent bar. Per suggestion, I tried cutting a piece off and attaching to a bar fitted with hardware cloth. While the comb was not so fragile it was unworkable, it was also not so stable and wide that it just slid on. So, the smallest piece ended up in the bottom of the hive so the bees could scavenge the nectar and I went with Gentle Suggestion #2: push the comb over so it's aligned straight, place back in the hive, and hope the bees take the hint. I also placed the bar-with-cloth next to the adjusted comb in case that provided some additional encouragement.
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(Note: while I am working with a bar, I place a dummy board over the hole so the bees don't feel quite so invaded. Or, at least I hope that's what is happening)
I pulled the next bar out, and gently pushed both sides more toward the middle and replaced the bar. Like the first one, the bar had gotten started, but had not quite reached the point where the one side was crossing onto the adjacent bar. It had some brood and some nectar.
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The third bar from the end was a thing of beauty: deep, with a whole bunch of capped brood that was lovely to see. I think that is nectar curing above the brood.
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The next bars were fairly well cross combed, but still came out in a group of three. The hive stand was very useful here, and it just fit all three bars. Having three bars out simultaneously was definitely heavier! I also saw three patterns of capping -- what looked like worker brood (yellow) and two kinds of raised caps, both of which may be drone, or perhaps the one in red is an emergency queen?
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Finally, the first 5 bars I left in the hive -- I will have to extend the top of the inspection stand so they can be set down more easily.
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I was really happy to see all the capped brood as it seems as though the hive is fairly light of bees. I realize that a package is just a starter colony, and I know they're out foraging -- I saw workers with different colored pollen on their legs, and finally, bees that were returning from my own yard! I am pretty sure this is the case, as I saw bees zipping home from the north-west, which is where we are oriented relative to the hive. And yesterday, after four days of rain, the ligustrum hit full bloom, and I saw several honeybees in attendance, along with a number of butterflies.
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. There was some new comb drawn. You can see the persistent pattern of cross combing (not as overwhelming as it seemed first time around) where the edge of one comb kind of abuts up against the top of the adjacent bar. Per suggestion, I tried cutting a piece off and attaching to a bar fitted with hardware cloth. While the comb was not so fragile it was unworkable, it was also not so stable and wide that it just slid on. So, the smallest piece ended up in the bottom of the hive so the bees could scavenge the nectar and I went with Gentle Suggestion #2: push the comb over so it's aligned straight, place back in the hive, and hope the bees take the hint. I also placed the bar-with-cloth next to the adjusted comb in case that provided some additional encouragement.
(Note: while I am working with a bar, I place a dummy board over the hole so the bees don't feel quite so invaded. Or, at least I hope that's what is happening)
I pulled the next bar out, and gently pushed both sides more toward the middle and replaced the bar. Like the first one, the bar had gotten started, but had not quite reached the point where the one side was crossing onto the adjacent bar. It had some brood and some nectar.
The third bar from the end was a thing of beauty: deep, with a whole bunch of capped brood that was lovely to see. I think that is nectar curing above the brood.
The next bars were fairly well cross combed, but still came out in a group of three. The hive stand was very useful here, and it just fit all three bars. Having three bars out simultaneously was definitely heavier! I also saw three patterns of capping -- what looked like worker brood (yellow) and two kinds of raised caps, both of which may be drone, or perhaps the one in red is an emergency queen?
Finally, the first 5 bars I left in the hive -- I will have to extend the top of the inspection stand so they can be set down more easily.
I was really happy to see all the capped brood as it seems as though the hive is fairly light of bees. I realize that a package is just a starter colony, and I know they're out foraging -- I saw workers with different colored pollen on their legs, and finally, bees that were returning from my own yard! I am pretty sure this is the case, as I saw bees zipping home from the north-west, which is where we are oriented relative to the hive. And yesterday, after four days of rain, the ligustrum hit full bloom, and I saw several honeybees in attendance, along with a number of butterflies
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