What started pretty good with some minor cross-combing has gotten troublesome. I think the cross-combing is getting under control, but a couple of weeks ago, an inspection showed no sign of brood. Since the brood next was cross-combed, I did my first "real" beek-keeping session and cut out pieces that were causing problems, straightened out some, managed to break my first comb completely off (whew! Those were some mad bees), managed my first masking-tape sling (thanks August C!), and found that my bees really like their propolis, and also, there is no sign of brood at all. I may have missed eggs, but there was no larvae, no capped brood, no evidence of a laying queen. I'm giving that one more week just in case they produced a virgin who hadn't mated yet, but I'm thinking I'll have to re-queen.
I've watched the hive every evening the last two weeks for about 30 minutes, and something new has developed. The last few evenings, they've been rejecting returning drones, or killing them outright. The hum in the hive has gotten a bit more high frequency, though foraging is happening. From what I recall, killing drones is a sign of dearth -- they had only a single bar of a capped honey, and I haven't seen a noticeable reduction in worker numbers, so I'm thinking they are running out of food. Do I feed again? Or do I let them learn to adjust to local conditions?
I've watched the hive every evening the last two weeks for about 30 minutes, and something new has developed. The last few evenings, they've been rejecting returning drones, or killing them outright. The hum in the hive has gotten a bit more high frequency, though foraging is happening. From what I recall, killing drones is a sign of dearth -- they had only a single bar of a capped honey, and I haven't seen a noticeable reduction in worker numbers, so I'm thinking they are running out of food. Do I feed again? Or do I let them learn to adjust to local conditions?