For lack of a better description, I think I have a hive of lazy bees. A ton of stuff is blooming right now, but they have hardly any new stores. I had to nurse them along over the winter as they had absolutely no stores going into winter; a lot of pollen but no honey. I had to take supers from other hives to get them through. Odd when you compare it to my other two hives which each had 3 capped mediums. And they seem to resist drawing out brood and super frames. The queen is laying solid brood patterns on about 5 frames and it's a large hive. There are 3 frames they haven't worked; just foundation. And the remaining 2 frames are partially drawn and almost empty. She is almost 2 years old so I was thinking about replacing her in the next couple of weeks. Has anyone ever experienced this before?
Mix your frames. 1 full, 1 empty, 1 full, across the hive body. Put the pollen on the outside. Then check them in a week and see if it made a big difference.
thanks iddee. whats your thought on re-queening?