Where's the Queen?

Day 2    I checked the sugar water to make sure they were able to get to it just fine. The first jar was about half full (see how I'm just naturally optimistic 😉). The middle one had about an inch gone and the back one didn't look like it was being used. I swapped the back one to the front position and put the front one in the back and closed the roof. I did not remove any bars to check on the bees.

Day 4    I checked on the sugar water again. The front jar was about half full again and the middle was about 3/4 full. I swapped the middle jar and the front one. I removed some bars close to the divider and peeked at the bees. They were clustered on the cage so I closed the hive and closed the roof.

Day 6    I opened the hive expecting (hoping) to see that the queen has been released from the cage and everyone was happily at work building comb. Instead, I find this:


Almost all of the bees are still clustered on the cage. I'm really beginning to get concerned because there are no drones in the cage to feed her. Hopefully the others are feeding her through the wire. They seemed to be in a good mood since I was without protection and the bees flying around could not have cared any less about my presence. It is my understanding that they become more aggressive if they are without a queen. I hate to keep going into the hive but I may check back on them in a couple of more days. The temperature was about 80 degrees and overcast at 3:30 p.m.

They increased their eating. The front jar only had about 1/2 inch left and the middle jar was under the half way point. I moved the front jar to the middle and combined the rear jar and middle jar to make one full jar and placed it in the front leaving the empty in the rear. I will refill all of the jars tomorrow. This is what I really like about this hive, I can get in and out of the feeder area without disturbing them so I can keep an eye on the feeders without too much concern that I'm bothering them too much.


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