Brand new beekeeper here. Will try to get to the point quickly.
Picked up my bees may 12th. Queen was in separate cage outside the package bees. Got home, released bees into top bar hive, and hung the queen between 2 of the top bars. Checked 3 days later, and the queen was almost out. I guess I read somewhere to help her if she wasn't out on day 3. So I did. She flew out of the cage and out into the yard. I came inside for a few minutes and when I went back out, she was in the hive surrounded by bees. I'd say 6-8. I couldn't tell if it was aggressive behavior or not. I had to go at that point so I closed it back up and went to town. When I came back(six hours later), I checked again and saw her again surrounded by about 6 or so bees. I have checked several times since then but have been unable to see the queen. The population seems down, but happily working. I am feeding sugar water and they are going through it quickly. New comb is built every time I look.
I do see some cells with eggs in the them, but a lot of cells have more than one egg. Also, there appears to be 2 queen cells being built. I have looked and looked for a visual of the queen, but I just have been able to
Please ask any questions that may help in your diagnosis. I won't be able to answer them until I get home after work, but I will be checking this thread as soon as I can.
Thanks in advance!