[stormranch]

After I swapped some frames of house bees from a strong hive over to a couple of weaker ones, as Iddee suggested, the weaker ones already seem to be more vigorous. I noticed some orientation flights today, and they are taking sugar water like it is going out of style. Thank you for the advice. My question is, the bees, especially on the stronger hive, are really out on the "front porch" en masse, and are really buzzing around. I wouldnt say agitated, but very active. Is this normal? Perhaps Im just worrying to much.

Mark

 

[Iddee]

The hive has gone through a drastic change. IE: empty frames where their babies were.

They are just reorienting to the new situation. They will settle down in a day or two, unless you accidentally got the queen.

 

[stormranch]

Thanks for the reply. I did look for the queen, to try to make sure that I wasn't including her, but Im not confident in my ability to spot her yet. ( I have tried on different occasions and havent yet been able to master this, even though I know what to look for.)

Mark

 

[riverrat]

I dont spend a whole lot of time looking for a queen unlsee I am removing frames. I would wait a couple of days take a look and see if you can find eggs or queen cells in the donor hive if none they may be queenles

 

[barry42001]

with your strong colony, make sure they have plenty of room to spread out into, to dissipate heat more uniformly, in another words honey supers, or avoiding brood chamber congestion, if the bees feel crowded they will certianly swarm. This will also help minimize bearding of bees on the outside, also provide upper entrances for ventilation, and again to spread out the colony, and ease congestion at the main or bottom entrance.