Fall Prep

I opened up the hives today to give them their 3rd dose of mite treatment.
I used Apiguard this time since The Honey Exchange did not carry ApiVar Life.
I used the feeding shim above the brood boxes so I could fit the tray of Apiguard, and I put a piece of sheet over the feeding buckets to fill in the spaces around the top of the feed buckets.
I put 2:1 syrup in the buckets with the first Fumagilin dose.
I did not see either queen, but I think they are both still OK. I saw uncapped larvae and capped brood in both hives. I'm pretty sure I saw eggs in the Italian hive, and probably in the Russian hybrid, but it was harder to see in that one.
There are lots of bees in the Italian hive. The 3rd box is well on its way to being filled with honey. The first box had some capped brood and pollen. The second box had some capped brood, uncapped larvae, and eggs (I think) along with some honey and pollen. The bees are also starting to put some nectar and continuing to draw comb in the 4th box. I did not see any evidence of damage from robbing even though I did have to close up some of the entrances to prevent some robbing earlier in the week.
The Russian hybrid is not as full of bees. The bottom box has about 5 frames of brood and nectar. The outermost frames are still empty. The second box has some brood (capped and uncapped and maybe even a few eggs) along with honey, nectar and pollen. They really aren't working on the 3rd box yet. I wish they would and hope they will if I keep feeding them. I do see a fair number of bees bringing in pollen, and they are working to put in stores. There was nothing in the bottom of the hive to indicate either lots of mites or robbing so I think they are doing OK. I think this hive is just going to be more frugal with food and bees.
I just hope they have a big enough cluster to get through the cold weather.