Thanks for that. The good news here is we saw the queen towards the end of the video. So she didn't get killed. The downer is it's SOOOO late in the season that trying to get to full strength for the winter is going to be super tall order. I'm not very confident about that hive. The other two hives are VERY strong and healthy though. So Fingers crossed.

I have bottom boards to help close up the hives in the next 15 - 30 days. (Probably after my last inspection)

I was using the smoke to move the girls around and didnt even think that may have had an impact on the hive acceptance. I lucked out and they have accepted her on visual inspection yesterday (she was out laying eggs). I will keep an eye on the resoueces, and its being late in season has me worried. Good suggestion.

Congratulations. You can remove those frames temporarily and return them when the population increases. Just make sure you protect them by freezing and storing properly.

Totally agree, great observation. I have been having a tough time with glove fit. I am either comically oversized (clown size) or they fit fine, but definitely rough on the girls as I find a good pair. When I am slow and steadt they are super calm.

I am a 2nd year hobbyist. I am attending a local bee club monthly, and attended last years state bee convention. I spent 2 years during covid fascinated with local keeping. Jumped right in, and my only regret is not having a mentor within an hour to work with. Lots of commercial keepers, but no real backyard hobbyists... so it's been a self taught experience. I will most likely make a video explaining the past years at the end of the season. Thanks for the idea!

Hey - Good question! They look like peanuts. If they exist mid-frame, they are supercedure cells. If they are at the vert bottom of a frame, they are swarm cells. They are usually 1/2 - 3/4 inch in size. You can tell they are startibg to build them or creating a practice "play cup" when they take a cell and create a cell that extends out and is twice the with of a normal cell. It will look like the top of an acorn shell.

@@JeanLaValley thank you sir

Thanks!

Thank you for the advice! after my experience treating this first administration with a vaporizer. After this first aplication and also because I want a little space between the opening and frames, I bought 1 inch spacer boards to lift the bottom brood box up. I was thinking about drilling a hole and administering from the back. This is a great confirmation that was going in the right direction. Administering at night was something I hadn't thought about, but definitely seems like it would be the optimal discouragement from leaving the hive right away. Do you put a towel to close off the front of the hive when administering at night?

I've done it with and without blocking the entrance with a towel . Some bees will come out of the hive but they don't fly off usually just climb around the hive then go back in.