In article <[log in to unmask]>,
Theda Jeanell Davis <[log in to unmask]> writes
<snip>
>
>1.  I have recently noticed bees that have a white or light yellow patch
>of hair?? on the top of their bodies.  Appears to be less than 1-2 % of
>the bees have this appearance.  Is this natural or does it indicate a
>problem?
>
My guess is that they are newly emerged bees. No Problem.
 
>2.  I just inspected the top brood box.  Found plenty of brood and
>honey.  I noticed quite a few areas where the comb is not flat with the
>face of the frames.  Rather, there are sections of comb where the cells
>are parallel with the face of the frame. What are these?  Are they drone
>cells?  Is this a problem?
>
It could be that your frame spacing is not quite right. If you are using
frames with Hoffman spacers, make sure that they are pushed up tight
together.
 
>3.  And finally, I followed some of the discussion threads and read some
>books about the pros and cons with using 10 versus 9 frames in the brood
>chambers.  I jumped out there and decided to try 9 in order to enhance
>ventilation ( live in Texas and it gets quite warm ).  What should I
>monitor to see if this causes a problem or is better for the bees?
 
You may already be experiencing the problem (see 2). If you are not
using all of the space in a brood box, use a follower board up against
the last frame to keep the area confined. Otherwise, the bees will just
fill up this "dead-space" with comb.
--
Paul Walton
Email   : [log in to unmask]
Toddington, Bedfordshire, England.