Am I at a critical point?

[TheMasonicHive]

Hey everyone,

Just a question regarding my inspections.

I just hit the end of week 4 of a new package I installed in April 11th.

I pretty much go by the hive every day to take a look at the entrance to see how things are going, not to mention that I kind of enjoy just watching them.  Over the course of those 4 weeks I've seen small scale activity at the entrance.

I did an inspection last Thursday and saw lots of hatched brood cells with new eggs in them.  I noted that I had about 5 frames that were completely drawn out with just the beginnings of work on the other 5.

I'm now starting to see quite a bit of activity at the entrance...it seems like its increased four fold.

Since I just checked Thursday I don't know if I should check again to see if they have exploded and started drawing out the rest of my frames.  I want to make sure I put that second deep on before they get too crowded if the entrance is any indicator as to whats going on inside.

Am I OK to check again early this week?  

How quickly have you witnessed a frame go from nothing to completely drawn?

Any help would be appreciated!

[Bee Happy]

I've seen a super filled with 6-1/4" frames fill over 80% in 2 weeks, I guess that would equate to a deep frame at about 2 days, they can get awfully industrious when the urge hits them.  I couldn't answer how often would be checking too much though; I figure if you're close to an event, checking back may be ok. Keep in mind I'm starting my second year, and I'm sure someone will have some more tried and true rules to go on. (I honestly hope that on my tenth year I will be mindful that I have more to learn).

[JP]

Everything you mentioned considered, I would wait and check on them this weekend, but checking sooner won't really hurt anything, if you just have to have a looksy.


...JP