The half filled cells could be white pollen from Pee-Gee Hydrangea's
shrubs. My bees bring in a lot of it in early fall, they are a common
landscape shrub. Have you pulled some of the white from the cells to see if
it's bee bread? Did you put sugar on the hive through the winter? They also
will put sugar in the cells.
https://plus.google.com/photos/113800188780791381044/albums/5179033047954611777/5737676832358635826?banner=pwa
If there were that few bees in the hive would not make it through the
winter, they would freeze. Why you had so few bees in both your hives is
a dilemma, queen problems?
Karen T-K
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