2 strong, 1 weak

[randydrivesabus]

i got 3 packages about 2 weeks ago. today I checked to see how the new queens are doing. 2 of the hives are doing what bees are supposed to do....even building some fine looking straight comb off of small cell starter strips. i see brood at various stages of development. i have quit feeding them after they took 1 gallon each (see Brian...i was listening).
the problem is with the 3rd hive. it has much fewer bees. they probably drifted when they were installed. i also can't find the marked queen that came with them. i do however see an unmarked queen in there. but i think this hive has been getting robbed big time and not much is going on in there. a little comb has been built and i don't see any brood or eggs. i have been feeding with an inverted jar over the hole in the inner cover with an empty deep enclosing the jar and the outer cover over it. my plan is to continue feeding but to close off the little hole made by the bottom board and the top empty deep and to construct some kind of screen to confuse the robbers from entering through the little entrance on the bottom. i am also thinking of giving them a frame of close to emerging brood from my hive that overwintered. but i don't know how to tell if the brood is about to emerge. and the other thing with that is that the foundation in that hive is 'regular' size...not small cell.
any advice is welcome.

[doak]

Use your entrance reducer to help control robbing. It want matter about the size of the cells on the brood from the other hive. You can take care of that later. Nor will the emerging time of the brood. Just pick a frame with mostly capped brood.
If you found an unmarked queen I would leave her. It is not uncommon for a package to supercede. She may not be laying yet. Give them two frames of brood, one now and another in 10 to 12 days. That should give enough time to see what the new unmarked queen is going to do. Thats what I'd do.
doak

[randydrivesabus]

i dont think the queen is from a supercedure...i think she was in with the bees that were dumped into the package.

[doak]

If thats the case the bees had claimed her and killed the marked one.
If that is the case she may have been a virgin queen.
Excuse me, but who ever the supplier was need to get a handle on his/her operation.
My opion.
doak

[randydrivesabus]

the supplier was wilbanks.

[doak]

I'll have to talk to Regie.
doak