open hive 1 today. and it does not look good for them,over half of the bees are gone i think they went to one of the other hives. this is all they done. not even one full frame. my other bees r on there 5 or 6 frame. is there help for them . :? (http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid169/pfd05a0dc74fc12dd5d1c096d31675230/f40b28a6.jpg)
this is what the other frames look like. in hives 2,3,& 4, pic is not that good but if u look close u can see some larva at the bottom of the pic
(http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid169/p2844f1524d86ea263ef536f0b83ed7c0/f40b1eca.jpg)
Are you sure there is a queen in that slow hive?
Get a new queen and maybe they can build up enough bees for winter. If you get the new queen you also should feed syrup most of the year so they have at least 2 brood boxes filled. Choice 2 is to put those bees in another one of your hives.
i seen what looks like some small eggs.
Well if you dont build up bees fast they wont have any time to collect food or survive the winter.
It must still be cold in Michigan, especially at night! The queen won't lay any more eggs than the number of nurse bees can keep warm enough to survive. Finman has a trick that I'm trying this year, which is to put a small 8 watt terratrium heater on the bottom board just to give them a boost of warmth to give the brood a fighting chance on those cold nights. Try this, and maybe some pollen substitute, and see how it works out! :D
Hey Jay, I just realized you're in Concord! I just drove thru there about an hour ago - had dinner with the fam at the Colonial Inn. :)
My oldest son graduated from Babson College today. We're flying back to Chicago tomorrow after doing a little sight-seeing in Newport (flying out of Providence).
I love the Concord area, too bad the weather wasn't nicer today!
sherry
i will check on this hive tommrow and see if it inprove any. if not i will try the news paper method, with another hive. it will be my frist time doing that :o