this won't be interesting to you old timers, but maybe to the new folks like me.
this week i got to observe bearding, robbing, and my bees moved up into the honey super.
it finally occurred to me that the upper box was probably really hot, so i propped the top up a bit and the bees moved in. the bearding happened when it hit 102 and i got some great pictures. i have more bees in there than i knew! the robbing occurred when i removed a wayward piece of comb, and set it aside for my pleasure when i was done. by the time i was done....the honey was gone :( but it was fun to watch and i learned just how quickly they can take back the honey!!
thank you guys for all the great info. i am sure i'll have many more questions, but as i learn, i enjoy more.
Robbing is interesting to watch.
Last week I was cutting some brace comb out of my hive that had some uncapped nectar in it. thinking I wouold just add it to my collection of comb to melt down later I placed it at the entrance of the hive because it was the closest level spot out of the dirt.
I immediately thought, "Now that probably isn't a good place to put that." But, we have a good flow going so i wasn't too worried. A few minutes later it was covered in bees and they weren't only cleaning it out, they were hauling it back inside.
When done, all the comb that I cut off to add to my collection was hauled back in on the bottom board. Some of these pieces were big 4" or so pieces too. Pretty amazing.