So I went in both my hives today. Both will be installed two weeks tomorrow. I was expecting hive 1 (nuc) to be farther along far as drawing frames. They are still working on a couple frames. There numbers have seemed to doubled since last week. The frames are caked with bees. Lots of capped brood. Should I move any of the frames to try to get them to work the outside frames? Or wait it out. I?m guessing another week and they will really take off number wise. I did see a queen cup. I left it. Should?ve I done anything about it? Hive2 (package). Is doing well lots of eggs and larve. According to the eggs I saw earlier should have new bees around 18 or 19th.
I would just let the bees decide what they need to do. Bee have been building hives for over a hundred million years. If they have enough bees and nectar coming in they will bee building up soon.
Do not worry about queen cups. They do not mean anything. Bees build them all the time without using them.
Jim Altmiller
I would suggest adding a second box soon when the comb is on about 7/10 frames in a 10 framer and 6/8 on a eight framer. If you dont the bees may run out of space and could swarm.