I’ve had 2 inspections since feeding the bees - and in both cases I’ve been a little worried, though perhaps prematurely.On the first inspection, there was a tiny patch of brood - maybe a fifth of a side of a frame - with larvae and capped brood. On the second inspection (today, about a week later) this was the same - still signs of larvae and capped brood, but no obvious signs of eggs.
The number of bees is low (maybe enough to cover 3 frame sides) so I’m worried that either the queen isn’t able to lay at all, or she’s not laying much due to the cold nights, and the forthcoming brood will be too late to replace the winter bees who are dying off.
There’s not a lot I can do right now (the bees are foraging, have stores and pollen, and aren’t really touching the syrup in the feeder), so I just have to wait and see if warmer temperatures will spur on more egg laying, or if the colony is gradually on its way out. I’ll check back in 2 weeks and see what its looking like.
Worst case scenario I have to help focus efforts on dividing the other hive on site to get enough nucs out to get them through the winter.
