The advice is to leave a newly hived swarm of bees for at least 14 days before inspecting them so today we decided to do a quick look to see if they needed anything. The Waxwings Apiary is some distance from home so being prepared for any eventuality we packed syrup, feeders, supers etc. and off we went. The hive looked busy, but Jill and Rob had said that during the week there hadn't been much pollen going in- a sure sign of brood- so we weren't sure what we would find.
Gently the lid was lifted and crown board removed. The bees had been busy, 5 frames were drawn in addition to the 2 frames we had given them originally, there were stores of pollen and nectar and cells had been 'polished' ready for eggs to be laid in them. However, disappointingly, there were no eggs and we didn't see the queen at all. The bees were calm, not at all bothered about the minor intrusion, when we put back the lid there was no change in their behaviour. So, a bit of a puzzle really, the bees are acting as if a queen is there it's just there is no evidence apart from those polished cells and well behaved, calm bees.
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