Thursday afternoon, despite plenty of syrup, the Cordovans resumed scouting.
They were also expelling drones, and melted snow was on the porch.  A small
trial pollen substitute patty was given.  Friday at noon it was half eaten
and they were all over it, so they were given a big patty.  They stopped
flying once the first patty was given, apparently too busy eating, and have
not been seen outside since.  They had loads of pollen last Fall.  Much
protein has been used in this hive, more is going in, and very little has
come out as dead bees.  I contemplate with trepidation the magnitude of what
must be in there.

Concerning Tim's idea, while these Italian Cordovans are prolific, and this
trait is apparently not unique to this colony, I have no idea how general it
might be.  Who knows whether these bees would cover more ground than other
bees as applicators of anything?

Concerning Sarah's question through Aaron's post, I doubt that these bees
can cluster in the usual manner, yet they are alive.  It appears that the
boxes are full of bees, perhaps as dense as a cluster.  They can be seen
thick all over the frame tops, and through the upper entrance.  When they
take cleansing flights, they use both upper and lower entrances.  Perhaps
I'm mistaken and they are fewer than they appear to be, but I dare not look
inside.  Whether they shall survive, or even thrive, shall be known only
after we've gotten through this.  My mentor once had a colony of Italian
Cordovans that acted like these, and they had to have extra boxes of comb
inserted during the Winter and Spring whenever bees began to hang out in
cold weather.  They had to be split into four sizeable colonies when Spring
arrived.  If clustering is not essential to survival, the price may be lots
of food, which price might be offset by the pleasure of watching the bees
eat food more conveniently supplied.  The deal might be further sweetened if
it yielded both observation and bees to sustain a queen bank without
sacrifice of a colony.  A colony like this might not be "self-sustaining" in
winter, but might be sustainable, and possibly even useful.

Right now we just hope to hold on to life through daily surprises.  I hope
we'll know more in four months.

Bill Morong