Week 4 inspection of 2 hives. Not sure what I should be thinking...

[CpnObvious]

I know this may be a lot to ask, and I'm sure I'm over-thinking more than I should... Could a couple of you please take a look through the album to which I have linked below?  It contains nearly every picture (my apologies) that was taken during my week 4 inspections.  Please keep in mind these were package bees installed on all virgin foundation.  The only non-virgin foundation are the 2 plastic frames in hive 1, and 1 plastic frame in each hive 2 & hive 3.  I don't want to give my opinion in here because it may influence what you think.  I will say that I haven't seen the queen in hive 2 for two weeks, however I do see eggs nicely laid in the center of the cells in that hive.  Thank you so much for taking the time to dig through the album.  Your browser's address bar includes all the image info: ex: Hive1_Day27_062214_3.  For the most, the pictures show front then back of each frame.  Most close-ups were then taken of the frame whose whole was just shown.

Thank you all for your patience with me.

http://s1211.photobucket.com/user/CpnObvious/media/Bees/BeesWeek4Inspection/Hive1_Day28_062214_1.jpg.html?sort=9&o=0

[riverbee]

capn, it's not a lot to ask, but i am uncertain as to what question/s you have specifically or in general.....there are a great deal of photos...40 some?  do you have a specific concern/question?  these photos are not dated, or are not tagged with a comment about them or what frame they are in the hive. so am unsure?  you can give an opinion, or your own thoughts, most of us would not be influenced by this, and would give their thoughts on it, so help us out a little?  it would help me, if i knew what i was looking at, hive # and date or your concerns/questions......and not have to look up in my browser for date and number.  that's just me.

it's not essential to see a queen IF you see eggs.

[CpnObvious]

River,

Sorry about lack of clarity, I've had WAAAAY too many late nights lately and was in a rush to post them while I had a few "free" moments...  I'll try to delete a few throughout the day, too.
The pics don't have individual notes, but the title is in the address bar.  I'll try to update the notes throughout the day to better reflect what they are.

My concerns (& thoughts)...  I don't want to jump the gun, which I'm sure I am, but here are a few of my thoughts... which I'm sure I'll add to through the day and ask more questions based on everyone's responses...

1) Concern: the brood is kind of spotty in hives 1&2.  Thought: The queen was just looking for a place to lay.  Being a new package starting off with virgin foundation, she was just putting an egg anywhere she could as the cells became available.

2) Concern:  Hives 1&2 had more drone brood during week 3 inspection, most of which has now emerged.  There's still some but not all that much.  Thought:  This is a good thing.  Week 5 inspection should have another round of capped brood, we'll see ho it looks.

3)  Concern:  slow to draw foundation.  Thought:  The first 2 weeks the progress was crazy good.  The last two weeks have been at a stall.  I had removed the feed as they weren't touching it (I've since put it back, they are touching it again.)  Also, being a package, I have been losing bees since the install.  This past week is the first week numbers are building back up.

Are there any concerns I SHOULD have?  I'm sure I'll post more, but I have to leave to get me kids to the dentist and then I need to get to work!

Thank you all for your help!

[tbonekel]

Ok, I'll chime in. The first thing that may or may not be a problem is the type of foundation you have. I am not familiar with the stuff that has metal borders. I'm not sure what advantage that has. And along those same lines, yes, the brood pattern looks spotty until you get to your all plastic frame. The brood looks much more uniform on that frame. Just as an experiment, if it were me, I would take out one of the outer frames and put one foundationless frame right in the middle of the hive. As long as you have two fully drawn frames on either side, they should draw it out nicely. I hate to say it, but my biggest concern is that foundation you have with the metal. Don't take a whole lot from my opinion, though. It will be interesting to see what other have to say.

[CpnObvious]

The plastic frames were my jump start from another beek. He gave me 4 frames that were partially-mostly drawn. So that kind of reinforces my #1... she had room to lay in the drawn comb, and just found spots as they became available in the new comb.

I'm honestly not sure what the real benefit of the Duragilt foundation is. It is what I removed from my used equipment so it is what I put back in. I do like it, though, because it's rigidity doesn't require it to be wired in. There may be other benefits or draw back, but I don't know what they are.

[CpnObvious]

I should also include that I'm feeding all three hives from a top feeding jar with 5 holes. If I want them drawing comb faster should I be following this method I stole from another thread?

Iddee will add to this thread, just to say I don't get the credit either. It came from Tecumseh. He advocates the trickle feed rather than the ""all you can eat"" buffet.

[LazyBkpr]

I'm going to say those plastic frames do look pretty nice..  I am not a fan of plastic, but do have several in use. Not a fan of Duragilt either, less so in fact because I threw all of it I had away, but I cant figure how that may be affecting the laying pattern.  When you look at that "spotty" brood, do you see eggs/larvae in those empty cells?
   
   Your bees are reaching the tipping point in age. As more new brood emerges they will start making wax again. The population will begin to grow, and everything should start happening faster.
   If you dont have a pile of syrup stored in the cells your bees are doing fine. A little is good, a lot is not.

[CpnObvious]

I'm going to say those plastic frames do look pretty nice..  I am not a fan of plastic, but do have several in use. Not a fan of Duragilt either, less so in fact because I threw all of it I had away, but I cant figure how that may be affecting the laying pattern.  When you look at that "spotty" brood, do you see eggs/larvae in those empty cells?
   
   If you dont have a pile of syrup stored in the cells your bees are doing fine. A little is good, a lot is not.

Scott, Why is it that you don't like the Duragilt?

I don't think the Duragilt is affecting their laying pattern, I think it's more-so the way they've drawn it.  If you look at the image below you can see that they've been drawing comb in two places on the same foundation.  This causes random cells to be available at the same time as opposed to one large "layable" cluster.  I THINK this is why it's spotty.  Yes, there is larva (or eggs) in all the other cells.  She went back around and back-filled as the cells as they became available.

I'm sure that what I'm seeing is, for the most, "normal" for a new package install, but having not been through this before I think I'm just over-thinking everything.  I also think that this is the only downside to the VAST amount of information on this forum and the web...  You read about spotty brood and think that that's what's happening, when, in fact, it's just that they are starting from scratch.  Kind of like being a hypochondriac... Are you ever hungry, have to urinate, or even woken up in the morning?...  You must need the capitulator valve in your knee replaced... RUN TO THE DOCTOR!!!  Did your truck make a funny noise when your ran over that cat?  You must need a new muffler bearing... RUN TO THE PARTS STORE or MECHANIC!!!

[LazyBkpr]

Scott, Why is it that you don't like the Duragilt?

   Just had bad personal experiences with it.  So long as my bees didnt strip it down to the flimsy little plastic divider it worked fine, but when they did, it was the end. Nothing I did would convince them to touch that spot again. When I did convince them to draw comb in the area they tried to "bridge" the plastic sheet with a comb set off to the side of it.  Simply ripping it out and letting them build their own was quite a lot easier.. Thats my story and I'm sticking to it!   

  Yes, there is larva (or eggs) in all the other cells.  She went back around and back-filled as the cells as they became available.
   I'm sure that what I'm seeing is, for the most, "normal" for a new package install, but having not been through this before I think I'm just over-thinking everything.  I also think that this is the only downside to the VAST amount of information on this forum and the web...  You read about spotty brood and think that that's what's happening, when, in fact, it's just that they are starting from scratch.
   

   OK, good, that is what I wanted to know. If shes filling those spots I would let her have at it. She will get smoothed out as she progresses, but you have already figured that out for yourself so I am preaching to the choir here..

  You must need the capitulator valve in your knee replaced... RUN TO THE DOCTOR!!!  Did your truck make a funny noise when your ran over that cat?  You must need a new muffler bearing... RUN TO THE PARTS STORE or MECHANIC!!!

   Dont forget the blinker fluid!