Hello,
New beekeeper here but learning quickly. I received my nuc and installed within my brood box by itself exactly 17 days ago. I’m located in Southern California (zone 10a) at about 1,200 ft in the foothills of the national forest. Especially this year we have experienced cooler days and nights with higher humidity in spring. My hive is facing sunrise, with direct morning sun and a bit of afternoon sun (shade from a tree canopy mid-day).
The colony is growing so fast, nearly all the 3 new foundation-less frames have comb drawn out. I believe I’m about 14 days away from adding my super. I have the flow hive screen installed and tray below with the vent in the open position. I also have had the entrance reducer on to allow the colony to establish itself without threats.
For the past few weeks, I’ve been checking the bottom tray periodically and I’m finding it nearly full of liquid. When inspecting the hive, there is no excess moisture, my roof is secured correctly, the hive walls and frames appear dry. I have not fed them syrup. I was concerned and recently purchased a Brood Minder humidity and temp sensor. The temp ranges from 82-95 throughout day/night and relative humidity is 72-80% (which seems high). I’ve read that the excess liquid could be a sign of rapid growth, production and good healthy activity.
I’ll follow up with a photo next time I check but wanted to see if anyone else has seen this before with Flow Hive 2+ trays. Could the entrance reducer be causing this with less ventilation?
