Day 11 for this hive. All seems well, 11:30a, sun is out, 68 deg, calm air and lots of activity inside hive with sugar water and bees flying in with pollen and nectar. Found the queen roaming on the lower comb of a middle bar. Cannot see eggs or larvae yet although I held comb up in sun...hope she's fertile and will be a good queen for the hive. Bees seem contented and there are no supersedure cells which would indicate bees feel a new queen is needed. It is early yet and next week I'll look more closely for eggs and larvae.
Concerned about the black scum that is forming on the edge of the 50/50 sugar water. Checked web for info; not unusual because the hive provides ideal conditions for mold to grow. Tip is to feed less quantity more often. Also wonder about the amount of syrup in the cells--at least it looks clear like syrup but that could be nectar as well. Bees are using about 2 qts of syrup per day and drawing lots of comb so I will continue to provide the syrup.
Although using a Langstroth setup for the hive, I have provided empty frames (no plastic or wax foundation*) and letting the bees draw comb as they desire. Worked well in top bar hives and should be the same here. The center six frames have comb, 3/4 filled on one, 2/3 on a couple, a smaller amount on the frames moving toward the outside, last two frames on each side empty although bees are hanging together there. See https://honeybeesuite.com/festooning-bees-lacework-between-the-frames/ for a photo...fun. And the cells on those six frames have nectar and pollen.
Next check will be when I return from Colorado trip on June 4 or 5.
*Read a sad thing--one can consider all of the commercial USA wax foundation to be contaminated because of the pesticide treatments. According to the article, cosmetic companies only buy beeswax from Africa where people are too poor to buy the pesticides.
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