I installed two packages yesterday (Mentioned here: http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php?topic=9488.msg61419#msg61419), and there's a pretty marked difference in the behavior of the two hives.
Hive 1 shows a far amount of activity, a lot of fanning on the board. and a significantly higher noise level. This is also the hive that the queen box fell into the bottom (I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures; our digital camera isn't working, so I had to use my cell phone).
(http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/913/hive1pe3.th.jpg) (http://img259.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hive1pe3.jpg)
Whereas hive 2 does not have a lot of activity, although bees are coming and going:
(http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/4907/hive2jy4.th.jpg) (http://img338.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hive2jy4.jpg)
The queen box is near the front of the hive, so I'm thinking that the extra bees around the entrance are there because they're trying to be near the queen, but I'm a little concerned that it means she's dead and they're all worked up over that.
It's cloudy and rainy today, so it's probably not a good day to open things up and inspect the queen box. I didn't notice any extra defensiveness on the part of the guards in hive 1, even when I held my hand so close to take the picture.
Any thoughts, ideas, recommendations?
Thanks in advance!
The Bees are pretty smart just let them do there job
kirko
how did the queen box land? if the bees can not get access to her, i'd think that might stir them up a bit. i think i'd take the chance and do a quick retrieval of that queen cage.
Is the cage screen side up? If not I'd open it up now and get it sittuated immediately or the queen will die.
Dave
Definitely screen side up. They have easy access to the candy.
I'll worry less and check things out inside in 3 days when it's time to remove the cages.
:)