Looking Back and Moving On, Part 4

Several weeks passed. Opening the hive for an inspection, Debbie found that the workers were planning a revolt. They had built queen cells. Before that happened, we decided to intervene. We took the queen cells, some brood frames and some bees and used them to recolonize the empty hive. Then we sat back and watched. It seems to have worked! We have two hives again, although we aren't sure about this new hive. It just doesn't show the same kind of activity as the older hive. But there are bees in the hive, and they seem to be storing lots of pollen and raising lots of brood. We just don't see them flying very much, and they don't seem to be making honey. But the older hive! You can SMELL the honey, 10 feet away! We've had to add another box to the top of both hives, and maybe we'll be able to get some honey this fall. We intend to let them keep MOST of their work for the coming winter. But it would sure be nice to taste something for all our efforts!