Did a good inspection today

[tom]

Hello all

   I finally got around to doing a good inspection on all three of my hives. And the queens are back laying and there is plenty of brood capped and uncapped they are storing plenty of pollen and honey. I took the super off of hive 2 because they were not moving up and it was giving to much room the bottom of number two is doing well the last time i checked on them the queen had stopped laying but today she was laying and plenty of brood so they are doing well as for hive three well they have taken to the new queen and boy is she putting out eggs she is laying solid patterns and laying in cells they have not even finish building.ANd she is filling all the frames from top to bottom. As for my big hive i did not go into the brood to see if she was laying but by the action of the bees things are back to normal and they are putting honey away.

Tom

[Brian D. Bray]

Sounds like a positive report.

[tom]

Hello Mr. Bray

   Yes everything seems to be picking up some and i am planning on switching hive bodies tomarrow. The first hive second brood chamber seems to be a little to arkward and now i was given a couple on old hive bodies so i cleaned them up and gave them a good coat of paint and i might as well put them to good use. And it will give a a chance to see if my queen is laying in this hive she had stopped like the other one but my third hive she never stopped and is still going strong and my first hive is the only one that still has drones. I would think they would have been gone by now so i think they might want to replace the queen if so then i will let them.

Tom

[Brian D. Bray]

Don't worry about the drones the bees will eliminate them when they're ready.  The time varies from hive to hive.  Some hives maybe doing it now, especially if dearth conditions exist, while other hives may wait for a month or more before killing of the freeloaders.  Concentrate on developing the hives and getting them into the best condition you can before winter.  This should include dusting w/powdered sugar for mites.  You have time for a triple application (once every 10 days) before winter conditions set it.  The more you can knock down the varroa mite population now the better it will be for the bees and the better chances of survival until spring.

[tom]

Hello Mr. Bray

   I have started working on my two small hives getting them ready for the fall and winter. Yesterday i fed them some sugar sryup and they both knocked it out within minutes and this morning i saw some yellow stains in front of my first and second hive but the third one did not have the stain both hives are working good. But i did not feed my big hive and they did not seem to want any feeding but the other two did not mind the food and took it all but where did the yellow stain come from is it something i should worry about or could it come from the tons of pollen they have been bringing in.

Tom

[Brian D. Bray]

>>could it come from the tons of pollen they have been bringing in.

It is probably due to the bees empting some pollen cells in preference to the syrup.  This can happen when a hive has ample pollen for brood production and not enough honey stores or when it is starting to cut back on brood production due to the time of year.  A hive will occasionally toss out what it views as excessive pollen stores--now that you've fed them they may look for more.  
Caution: Feeding when not absolutely necessary can stimulate robbing.

[tom]

Hello

   Thank you once again sir for your advice i never thought of that but it has been hot here and dry. They are raising plenty of brood and doing well the syrup i gave them was just sitting around so i thought i would let them have it to help out. And today the second hive was working as if they had found something good in the field there was no sign of robbing at any of the hives everything seems like normal the third hive was sitting back relaxing and the first hive was hanging out on the front fanning and you can smell the honey rippening inside and the second was still working like crazy. I was just wondering if anything was wrong i see that my first hive was filled to the rim with bees in the second brood chamber  but they have plenty of room and i have not seen any signs of the queen laying in the top but they are putting honey up there and drawing out the rest of the frames.

Tom