Given the different color of bees I assume so. Going to reduce the entrance size for now in hopes that will help this new colony…
Just came back from inspecting the hive. I didn’t see any dead bees nearby, when I walked by earlier I was in my street clothes so I wanted to gear up before getting too close of a look. Upon opening up the hive, I saw lots of frames started and larvae. Piles up bees walking on top of each other. I couldn’t find the queen but saw evidence of her being there.
The food bag of syrup was gone and seemed to be enjoyed by the bees and nearby ants. Some of the bees had pollen on their legs so the gathering has been going well.
I think everything is going good. The hive traffic is back to normal, not sure what the cluster of activity was earlier.
Hi Cheryl, that looked like a normal level of traffic at peak rush hour to me - your foragers coming & going, plus today’s new batch of workers coming out to orient. That typically occurs on any nice enough day in springtime between 10am & 2pm give or take.
Attacks, or ‘robbing’ by honey bees from other hives would be more likely to happen during nectar dearth times like late summer & fall. Right now all the bees are too busy gathering all they can from the plentiful blooms & won’t take the risk of an incursion.
About your entrance, you could consider closing just the middle portion leaving a 1”-2” opening on either side. This actually helps the bees control airflow in & out, to maintain the temperature inside.
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The hive is only a couple of weeks old so I don’t think I have newly emerged workers yet. I’ve never seen the hive so active before, but glad everything checked out…phew!
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Looks normal. Flight orientation day!
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