Well all very interesting. I made up a box for the robbers and it had little traffic this afternoon.
The hive however was receiving 20 bees per minute. None seem to have had pollen on them, but they were all adult bees.
Every 5 minutes there would be a wrestle with one bee being pushed out of the entrance onto the ground where the struggle continued. Also every 5 minutes or so one would appear at the entrance, facing into the darkness and wave its but in the air and fan its wings vigourously for a couple of minutes then go back inside.
No bees seemed to be leaving the hive, some would crawl out and up the face then back in again. All the bees I saw were adults, not the babies that I had left yesterday. Bees were visible behind the vents, crawling around and
communicating with those on the outside.
To me its obvious that what I had left were the ones that had hatched after the mob had absconded due to the moths.
As night falls, I have that comforting buzz from a few feet from the hive. If I put my ear up to the vent, it sounds like a couple of thousand. Last night in comparison, there was no noise as a couple of hundred huddled together in a corner.
So I may have pulled it off. My bees could have returned or maybe I have a couple of thousand robbers just staying overnight?
Either way, its a lot more promising than this time yesterday!
CALLING BEES HOIME AT THE ENTRANCE
NORMAL COMING AND GOING
STRUGGLING
GET OUT
GET OUT I SAID
FIGHT TO THE DEATH!