>My friend and I installed our Italian package bees in 1 deep body with
fresh
>foundation on April 17th--we went back a few days later just to make sure
>the queen got out of her cage, and then we didn't really "go through" the
>hive until the 27th--the bees were busily working on drawing out 5 of the
10
>frames, though none of the 5 were completely drawn out--we did also locate
>the queen--here are my 2 questions
>
>1. It was the 5 frames on the left side of the box that the bees were
>working on, while none of the 5 on the right were being touched--will the
>bees move to these on their own, or could it be that they've only been
>working on the left ones because that is where we have the entrance feeder?


Yes to both.  They started drawing the foundation closest to the entrance
feeder first (why walk to the other side of the hive when all you have is
foundation there too), and as they work on drawing the foundation they will
move over and throughout the super.

>2.  We noticed cells filled with sugar water and cells filled with what
>appears to be the brown pollen substitute we gave them when we installed
>them, but we didn't notice anything looking like eggs or larva--was it just
>too early to look for these or is there a problem--or perhaps we didn't
look
>carefully enough
>Chris Konopka
>Pennsylvania

You were correct on this one also with regards to the sugar water and pollen
substitute.  Eventually you will notice them taking natural pollen over the
substitute as they prefer the real thing.  As far as eggs or larva, you may
have missed these.  The eggs are tiny, but can be found in the very bottom
of the cells that the bees are drawing (the queen won't wait until the cells
are fully drawn before she starts laying in them).  The larva hatch from the
eggs three days later.  Therefore, if your inspection was on day 10 of a
fresh start, there would only be eggs or tiny larva, and these you'll have
to look close for.

We all start somewhere Chris, whether it be with computers, bees, or life.
Good luck with your hive!

--David Scribner
<[log in to unmask]>
<www.bigfoot.com/~dscribner>