Hello all, I figured I'd give a an update on my bee romoval effort I posted earlier. Everything seems to be going fine. My hive is building up in strength although I haven't found the queen or eggs yet. There still is what appears to be a viable queen cell in the hive. When I started to perform my inspection a bunch of bees were lounging outside the screen cone. When they detected the open hive they walked right in, the leaders fanning Nasonov(SP?) pheramone. I take this as a good sign. I have observed several dead brood occupants trapped in the bottom of the screen. They seem to all be drone brood that have been carried out of the house by workers and dropped in the screen. Is this normal when removing bees using the screen cone method? Is it a good sign? My logic says that it means there are not enough workers to maintain brood and they are removing the dead brood they find. Am I correct? Spring is in full force here in North Texas. The bluebonnets are in full bloom and my bees are bringing in loads of dark red pollen from them. Yes, bluebonnets produce dark red pollen. Milkweed is starting to bloom along with dandelions. Mesquite is leafing out so the first mesquite honey flow should come soon. An unbelievable contrast to the brown spring of last year's drought. Ted Wout, 3rd year, 10 hives Red Oak, TX