After re-thinking the installation process from yesterday. I decided to go back into Bob today. I just kept having this bad feeling that I didn’t install the queen cage properly. I watched the video from yesterday’s installation and it still didn’t make me feel any better.
I removed the lid and inner cover and lightly smoked them through the feeder holes. I took off the feed and went straight to frame 6 that I knew had the frame cage. Just as I suspected, there was a problem. It’s not what I had originally expected.
The rubber band had broken and the queen cage was laying in the bottom of the hive on the screen bottom board. I reached down, removed it, and saw the marshmallows were gone and the queen was on the loose. I hoped? I searched frame 6 and found her. She was alive, walking around, and the other bees seemed to have accepted her. Whew!
I removed the package cage and inserted frames 1 – 4. I laid the package in the front of the hive but there was less than 5o bees still in the cage. I put the lid back on but this time I did not install the inner cover. This will supposedly help to cut down on mold growth.
After a couple of hours I removed the package and dumped the dead bees out on the sidewalk. Most looked healthy, some were smaller and had some wing damage.
