Maybe the Last Inspection

I inspected the Top Bar Hive again yesterday, and nothing much has changed. I am almost certain that the larvae is drones, now. About the only thing left to do now is wait and see.

Another Inspection

I looked into the hive again yesterday. It looks like there may be some larvae. Comb building has almost stopped, though, so I still don't know for sure. This may be drone larvae.

Third Inspection

I made my third inspection yesterday. My observations:

• Bees are still working, but comb-building has slowed
• There's pollen, nectar, and some capped honey
• There's still no sign of a queen or brood

I have thought about getting a queen, but the hive is at a state now that it may be too late if it is queenless.

The Second Inspection

I made my second inspection about a week after the first. I'm still concerned about the presence of the queen. The beekeeper assured me that there was a queen in there when he captured the swarm, so I'm not giving up hope. The combs are larger and there is pollen and uncapped honey.

The First Inspection

When I transferred the bees to their new home, I put one of the frames from the other hive - upside down - into the Top Bar Hive to encourage these bees to stay. After all, I'm not really keeping them, I'm just trying to create a suitable home and hope they like it enough to stay. After a few days, I removed the frame and noticed that the bees were already building natural comb on the top bars, so it wouldn't be long until I could actually do an inspection. As a note, I didn't see the queen or any evidence of the queen when I did the transfer, so I was hoping that I could see her during my first inspection.


I finally opened the hive up and inspected. During the first inspection, I was mainly just getting a feel for working around the bees and the Top Bar Hive. Still no sign of the queen or brood. All I could do was wait and see. Here's a pic of some of the first natural comb from my Top Bar Hive: