On  7 May 97 at 6:37, Richard Drutchas wrote: eating brood
 
> Seems to me while sitting at fairs with the closed up observation hive
> the bees would adventually start tearing down brood. They would suck up
> any liquid body parts and try to toss out the rest.
 
A point regarding observation hives. It is imperative that they are fed
whilst closed up. Incoming nectar is the trigger for egg laying and brood
production, no incoming, no brood.
        What was seen here is the natural reaction to confinement. I have watched
our bees in the fall, as soon as we have a killing frost and the nectar
flow stops, so does brood production.Even to the point that layed and
hatched eggs disappear. Last year I had late queens which we were trying
to prove before wintering, we had to feed syrup to get them to lay to
prove they were viable.
        So, if you want to see an observation hive in full operation, either let
them fly, or feed with 1-1 syrup.
 
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