I do have an excluder between the super and the brood nest. I have not checked the entire brood nest this season. I have started but not finished. I'm timid beginner and am not yet comfortable with totally dismantling a hive and checking it out. Tried that last year and had the girls pretty upset when it was done. I blame that on not being patient enough with my smoker.
Unusually cool weather here the last week and a half has hampered my effort toward going through the nest and seeing it's condition. From what I can see, everything looks in order. Brood, Honey Pollen.......How do you tell the difference between worker and drone brood? I hope to finish going through the brood nest in the next few days. I plan on reversing the brrod nest boxes then.
As all you can probably tell, I need a mentor really bad. I enjoy this site lots!
Thanks All!