Temperature 12c
Weather: Cool and overcast
Stings: none
I visited the bees again on 26 May to top up their feeder and do a more detailed inspection. They were much happier this time. A bit of smoke meant they stayed in the hive even though I had no cloths to cover the frames while I had a look.
I didn't see the queen but I did see eggs, brood and covered cells. Even some drone cells. I saw brood on 3 or four frames and the ones at the edges were not drawn yet.
There was also a lot of honey, so much so that I think I'm going to have to do something about it. We're getting into the main flow and they are bringing in as much as they can. To that end they have made extra comb between the brood frames. That's not great as it'll limit how I can re-use the comb.
I think what I will do this weekend is take out the feeder, put in a super full of drawn comb so they have somewhere to store their honey. I'm hoping this will mean they move some of the honey up to those empty cells and free up space down below for the queen to lay in. There is a problem in that not all of the brood comb is drawn yet so that might mean they just use the drawn stuff rather than anything else.
My worry is that they fill both and leave her with no room. She can't fly away as her wings are clipped but it might cause some tension. What is the alternative? More sugar syrup and no super. Which might cause the same problems. It looks like the colony is getting ready to grow and will need room as the flow comes on so probably better for them to have that space.
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