Inspection of hive today - two deeps w/ten frames drawn out, no supers. Noticed that about 1/3 of bees not there since last inspection about 3 weeks ago. These bees were bought locally in a nuc this spring and have always been easy to work with. Currently, n ot much brood. Only about two frames with good solid brood pattern. I didn't see any eggs, but my lighting was poor. I saw only a few larva and pupa stages of development. Some uncapped honey was present and some pollen was present. There were many capped queen cells. I did find the Queen and she looked perfect, then she flew away while I was looking at her. ???
Any suggestions on what is happening and what to do? I'm in my second year with a mentor that is hard to get in touch with.
Thank you for any help.
Mark