Well, imagine my surprise to see the Hive 2 girls rubbing their eyes and sniffing the spring breeze this afternoon. There were ten or so bees out on the front stoop, a couple were beating their wings to get a breeze going through (why, I dunno...it wasn't that hot today) and some carrying out bits of wax and debris. Much less activity than Hive 1, but activity nonetheless. But don't think you're fooling anyone Hive 2. You're getting a new queen come Spring and that's that.
On a down note, there seem to be quite a few bees out in the grass just sitting there. I don't really know what that's about, but it doesn't seem like a good sign. I poked at 'em and then move, but they don't fly. Their wings seem to be in good repair, so it's not Varroa, I don't think. There's a fair amount of bee diarrhea in the grass, as well. Maybe it's Nosema. OK, time to put in that Fumigil syrup after all.
When I was poking around in the grass, I came across the critter you see below. Definitely not a honey bee, but it was just sitting all sedentary-like with the rest of the girls. Maybe they've been smoking weed.
