I installed a new package of bees last Monday, this is 4th day. They have a hivetop feeder with 1:1 sugar water and Honey B Healthy. Same mixture as I've used in the past. They have all new foundation to work on. I have no other hives with which to give them built up frames.
The bees are hardly touching the sugar water. Very few flying outside. Inside, they aren't very active. They are just hangin in clusters rather than spreading out across the foundation building new.
The queen has been released and there are eggs.
Should I be alarmed? Thanks for any advice. Mike
I wouldn't worry just yet, they may just be festooning, groups of bees will form clumps or chains when working together to build comb. Its their way of getting things done as a group.
What's your weather been like?
...JP
The weather has been pretty awful. I had wanted to check the queen and free her if necessary after only 48 hours (trying to make up for a late start). The winds were 20 -30 MPH all day. Also cool and lots of rain. When I did get in on the fourth day, she was freed and was already laying in what few cells they had prepped for her.
Sounds like everything is normal...I have two identical hives and one takes alot more sugar than the other, but the other one seemed to forage more....they are both doing fine. My most recent inspection revealed that the one that was taking more sugar had 2-3 more frames of bees, so it was either a larger package to start with or the bees in that package were younger and the other had more foragers which died off quicker.