This may be the first good sign this season in Massachusetts.
Well there was a flurry of activity a few times today at the observation hive. The temperature was in the low 50's and the sun was shining. I was sitting in my office and I could hear the roar of the bees again and I thought that they were doing their undertaking activities again. But I noticed that there were a lot more bees in the tube to the outside and they were all fanning their wings, and I could see by looking out the window that a few were taking flight - maybe cleansing flight! but with so many bees removed from the hive. I could clearly see the queen. Better yet, she was inspecting cells and then backing into them for a few seconds (as if to deposit an egg!) What else could she be doing? The workers were spread through out the hive. It was weird, they were dragging the dead to the top of the hive, maybe to get them away from the entrance and to a spot of little activity.
I can't see any eggs yet, the bees are covering most of cells and it's hard to see small eggs clearly through the glass. I know exactly where to look in a few days thought to see if there is any small larva. After the activity died down the bees came back from being spread through the hive to being in a tight cluster again. Now, they are mostly covering where I had seen the queen laying eggs. Maybe to keep the new eggs at 92 degrees?
Pictures to follow.