Glad I check the bees every day.
I hived a package Thursday into the new MB Kenyan and left a small gap at the front for an entrance, just wide enough for the bees. Made the top out of a scrap of T1-11, wide enough to barely cover the bars (not by design, happened to be the width of the scrap). We had some rain one night and it's been a bit humid. By Sunday I noticed the gap had closed to the point the bees were struggling to barely get into one tiny space at a corner -- seems the bars had expanded with the moisture. So I readjusted all the bars to provide a gap, and plan to frame the top today to make more of a telescoping cover that will protect the ends of the bars better.
The question: I'm feeding this hive with an inverted jar of syrup inside the back of the hive. When I changed it, I noticed a clump of bees hanging on one side of bars 5-8 and another clump below them on the bottom. AND lots of dead bees -- maybe 50 or more. With a top entrance, are the cadaver bees going to be able to remove the dead or should I expect to be cleaning the bottom occasionally? This situation has me thinking about drilling an entrance hole towards the bottom of the front and closing the top gap, but I don't know what the advantages/disadvantages would be.
Suggestions?