I am a newbie here... will try to post an intro when time permits. I just hope I can be as entertaining as LeadPipe - his 62,000,000 bee story cracked me up!
I have three hives that I just started. Queens are in and all seems to be going well, including eggs and larvae. I am feeding them with a top feeder and the 2:1 sugar mix. I have noticed that some of the cells are much darker brown than the others. Why is this? There does not seem to be a pattern to the darker cell locations on the frames, but they are noticably different from the bulk of the cells.
Thanks in advance - I will read and learn, ask as thoughts occur, and maybe in time be able to contribute a little.
Do those cells have a smoothish flat surface? Are they toward the top or out edges of the frames? If so, it's most likely some sort of pollen the girls are storing.
I would say it is pollen, my girls do that too till they fill up the frame :D
Hard to tell exactly what your referring to, but capped brood does get darker the older it gets. So perhaps you are comparing brood that is on the verge of hatching to freshly capped brood
All comb is white when first drawn. The more bee traffic the darker it gets. If it is brood it has the most traffic of the hive and the cocoons turn it a dark brown. The older the wax is the darker it gets.
What have I left out?
Looks like you got it all Jerry :D