Hi all, I'm new to bee keeping and new to this site. I have several questions to get started.
I hived my packaged bees 4 weeks ago and everything went fine. I am using a frame feeder, because here in Oregon it is often cold and rainy this time of year. As it turned out, its been sunny all month, and the bees drew out the comb on the first box in three weeks. I've been feeding them the whole time, and last week they used very little of the feed. I added the second box one week ago, and they are starting on that one, too. I plan to put a queen excluder and a shallow super on top of the second box when the second box is drawn out. My questions are: Am I doing right so far? Is it necessary to use the smoker? I have not used it once, and have inspected the hive and filled the feeder every 4 days so far. Can or should I have more than 2 boxes for brood? Some of the drawn wax is yellow, and some is pure white. Any one know why this is? Before I put the second box on, they were building comb on top of the frames, and on the bottom of the inner cover. I scraped it off, and they have continued in the same place on the second box, even though the frames are not all drawn out yet. There is also quite a variance in the appearance of the workers. Some are nearly black, and some are smaller, and some are very light in color. Is this normal, and why is it? Any help will be appreciated!