I just hived my first swarm yesterday morning... how can I tell if they are all still there without opening the hive? I have sat and watched the hive and I see bees coming and going, the guard bees are checking just about every bee that comes in, there are bees using thei nasonov gland and there are bees just fanning to keep the hive temp in check... there are only about a dozen or less bees doing this, but a lot more coming and going. Is it "safe" to open the hive to see if the queen is still there or if they have started to build comb? or should I wait a few days then check? I'm assuming Im seeing little activity due to most of the bees building comb?
Sounds like you answered your own question. Of course you can open them any time you choose, and check to see how they are progressing.
About the only thing to do right now is offer some feed.
Even if you gave them drawn come vs un-drawn foundation they will spend a lot of time inside for about a week putting the house in order, cleaning, repairing cells etc.
You don't want to disturb a new swarm/colony too much too soon,may cause them to leave.
Sounds like they are doing OK to me.
doak
Mine did the same thing. Not much activity the first couple days. Then they gradually became more and more active. I waited one week and two days and just couldn't wait anymore, so I opened them up and there were tons of bees and they were doing great. I have some pics of this inspection on another post on page 2.