Evidence that both queens are alive and well!

First inspection of Hive A and Hive B, Sunday, 5/12/13:
This was day 7 for the hives, with the packages having been installed Saturday the 4th.  If you've read some previous posts, you might know that I was a bit worried about what we'd find (or fail to find) under the covers of the hives.  I mixed up new syrup, bagged a new pollen patty, got the smoker full of fuel, and headed out to the hive.  My videographer was in tow, grumbling only slightly and--thankfully--with minimal profanity.

It was 55 degrees and a bit windy.  But, the hives have windbreaks to their north and west.  So, by the hives, it was still and pleasant.  It was a cloudless day, and we started the hive inspections at about 1500.

The smoker was going nicely.  I filled it to the brim with animal bedding from Pet Expo.  It put out ample smoke for a good 1/2 hour at least.  One of my onlookers brought out extra bedding, but we ended up not needing it.

The video of the hive inspections can be found on YouTube by following this link.

We puffed smoke into the entrance, and the bees at the entrance retreated into the hive almost immediately.  Some flew off.  Opening the top, I could see that the queen cage that I left up top was empty of any bees.  I took it and threw it to my onlookers and well-wishers.  I was surprised at how full the feeder pail was yet on the hive.  I wondered whether they took any syrup at all.  When I opened and emptied the feeder pails back at the house, it looked as if each hive had taken only 1/4 gallon or less.  After getting the pails back home, I realized that I should have marked the pails so that I knew which hive had which pail.  This would let me know which hive ate more or less.

In any event, I took off the old pail.  I opened the inner cover.  It was not "glued" down at all on either hive.  The pollen patty was clearly smaller and even eaten into two pieces.  Where the patty had stretched across the gap between frames 5 and 6, it was eaten completely through.  I removed them and inspected them.  They looked good still, so I decided to use them again after I did the inspection (rather than put on the new ones that I had brought out).

Under the inner cover, I could see many bees.  Perhaps 2 - 3 frames were pretty full of bees.  This was somewhat of a relief; they hadn't absconded, at least.  I started looking at frames.  I didn't see eggs or any other signs of the queen in Hive A...  Until I actually saw the queen!  There was no mistaking her; she was much darker than the other bees with her abdomen visibly longer and extending well past her wings.

Once I saw her, I put the hive back together.  There was some comb that they were building out past the edge of one of the frames, but I didn't want to push my luck by bothering with it during this trip.  I closed Hive A with the pollen patty replaced, new syrup, and the queen healthy-appearing.  I was much happier about the state of things for that hive.

Hive B's inspection was similar.  The queen cage was empty; I passed it off to a spectator.  Bucket was still pretty full, but I intended on replacing the syrup either way.  I didn't want it to ferment.  Pollen patty chewed up quite a bit.  I began inspecting the frames.  On the second frame I removed (if memory serves me), I saw young larvae.  They were white, glistening, and wet-appearing.  It was a small "C"-shaped maggot, basically, that was curled up at the bottom of the hexagonal cell.  That was good enough for me.  I closed it up and ended the inspections.

This was my first "real" inspection of the hives, removing frames, replacing feed, etc.  It seemed to have gone very well, and I was pretty excited about things afterward.

Now, I will probably give them another week.  When I saw how little syrup they used, I decided to fill each bucket only half full next time (1/2 gallon per 1 gallon pail).  I've also labelled the pails.  I'll have to refresh my mind with the egg/larva/pupa timetable, but I think that I might be able to find capped brood next weekend.

Along with new syrup in the half-filled feeder pails, I'll likely have to bring out new pollen patties.  I plan on cutting one pollen patty in half and putting 1/2 on each hive.  They had only eaten about 1/4 - 1/3 of the full patty in one week, so a 1/2 patty should last them a week.  Also, as flowers appear, they can start to get their own pollen from natural sources.