Quick look

A couple of days ago I took a quick look at the syrup buckets to see how they were doing and found 2 were empty. I replaced those 2, and today I replaced the 3rd bucket on the Not-So-Happy hive. They are sucking down the sugar syrup fast. I'm looking forward to the day I can stop feeding them!

Weekly check

I took a quick look into them hives today. I only pulled the end frames to see if the bees were working them yet. I added more syrup to the feeders--the nuc was out of syrup, the Happy hive was working hard on its bucket, the Not-So-Happy hive not so much.
The Not-So-Happy hive is still slowly working on its first medium box.
The Happy hive has started working some of the middle frames in its 2nd box, but still hasn't finished the lower box yet so maybe I should have waited a week before adding the box. Oh well, at least I know they won't swarm.
The nuc has started on frame 1 in the upper box, but not frame 10. The 10th frame has the grease patty on top so they seem to avoid that one mostly. The bottom box is not as full so I swapped the top and bottom boxes.
They all seem to be doing well...

Yesterday I got back from a business trip, but couldn't resist taking a peek at the syrup buckets. The 2 package hives are almost out of syrup, but the nuc was out of syrup--again. I put another bucket on and figured I'd do an inspection today.
Today I looked at the Happy hive. I wasn't looking for the queen, just checking to see how things are going. The hive is almost out of syrup, and almost out of room in the first box! For frames 1-10, they are building out into number one, but still have room in frames 9 & 10. I think because the grease patty is on top of 9 & 10. Still tomorrow I'm going to put another box of frames on top and put on another bucket of syrup.
I looked at the Not-So-Happy hive, and I was pleased to see that things are filling in nicely. This hive appears to be growing slower, but the combs look good so I don't think there is anything to worry about here. I just need to be patient. They have filled into about 6 frames so I don't need another box yet, but I will be putting more syrup on top tomorrow.
Lastly the nuc hive is doing well. The top box appears to be filling in faster than the bottom box. I think if this continues, next week I will try swapping the boxes. They still have room so I don't need to add another box yet, but I do need to keep an eye on the syrup. It's going fast!
The best news on the nuc hive is that I finally spotted the queen! She is marked with a little daub of white, and she was in the bottom box when I was inspecting it--pretty much in the middle of the box.

OK. So I looked around in the hives today.
The "Happy" hive looks good, but still has some space so I just replenished the syrup bucket and left things as is.
The "Not So Happy" hive looks OK. It also still has plenty of space, and I replenished the syrup bucket. The comb pattern is odd. Burr comb in the opening under the bucket and underneath one of the frames, but not supercedure or swarm cells. Layers of comb in the frame as if it's too hard to just build the foundation out. Still only working about 5 frames.
I saw queens in both of the package hives.
The Nuc hive looks pretty solid for 5-6 frames in each box.There was a clump of burr comb that might have been a swarm cell or might have been drone brood. I cut it out just to be on the safe side. I couldn't find the queen even though she is supposed to be marked with white (for 2011). That could be because there are so many bees or because she's a Carniolan and not an Italian like the others. I'm not sure, but I guess I can just wait until next week to take another look. I'm going to google images of Carniolans before my next inspection to make sure I know what I'm looking for.

It's sunny today after several days of rain so I am itchy to peek into the hives, but it's windy so I'm going to wait until tomorrow. That said I did decide to peek at the syrup buckets and found that the nuc had just about finished its bucket. That's a gallon in 5 days! I put a new bucket on, and I'm planning to look around tomorrow. It's supposed to be about 10 degrees warmer and sunny.

Moved the nuc into its new home

I moved the frames from the nuc into my medium boxes at lunch time today. See the before and after pictures. The top box on the hive is empty except for the bucket of syrup that is feeding the bees.
The queen is supposed to be marked white for 2011, but I didn't see her when I was moving the frames.
Yesterday when I was looking at the other hives I found the queen in the not-so-happy hive, and I saw larva in both hives so things look pretty good overall.

Picked up a nuc today!

I went up to Brown's Bee Farm and got another medium kit with a screened bottom board and a hive stand. I put it together except for the frames--finished three boxes, hive stand, telescoping outer cover. Then I went to Falmouth and picked up a medium nuc. I brought it home, set it on the hive stand, and removed the stuff blocking the entrances. Tomorrow I get to move them into the hive.

Almost three weeks

I put another bucket of syrup on the not so happy hive today. There was a little left, but the forecast is for pouring rain tomorrow so I figured today was a good day for this. I replaced the bucket on the happy hive already so they should be good for a few more days. I know we need the rain, but I wish it would warm up again.