Two weeks ago I go out to check out my three hives. One has great
activity, one looks like it's getting robbed out by its neighbor and the
other one could possibly be ok. The one with great activity gets the boxes
swapped and the frames and boxes scraped. Good brood patter and things
look nice. After a quick inspection of the one that might be ok, I find no
brood, and there are not more than 50 bees in the hive. Being pressed for
time I close it up and go home.

        I go out the next weekend to check out and clean up the third one
that I suspect is dead. I clean it up, it is dead. I then go to the other
one that I had previously pronounced as dead to clean it. I open the cover
and there are a few bees on the top bars. I take the top box off and all
of a sudden some bees come up at my face as if they are guard bees. I've
never seen robbing bees be that defensive, so I check out the frames where
they came from and find larva and capped WORKER brood with a smattering of
drone brood.

        It's too early to swarm around here, it's mostly in the 40-55
range in temperatures and there isn't anything open other than tulips and
crokuses. So where did these bees come from?

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Dave D. Cawley    | Where a social revolution is pending and,
The Internet Cafe | for whatever reason, is not accomplished,
Scranton, PA      | reaction is the alternative.
(717) 344-1969    |
[log in to unmask] |                     -Daniel De Leon
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