New Queen Freed
It had been 3 days today, so we checked a bit after noon to see if the queen had been released. I removed the top hive body and we saw that there was still a small bit of candy in the tube. We debated leaving it there and figured she would be out probably by the end of the day, but decided to go ahead and release her. I opened the extra opening in the plastic tube and held it open down on top of the frames. A couple of her attendants exited first, then she scampered out and hussled right down into the frames. Looked like she was very anxious to get about her business. We added the extra frame we had left out to that box and closed it up.
Checking later, we were finally seeing some bees coming and going from that hive. They were very active in the old hive, so much so that I was a bit concerned they were maybe going to swarm even though we had done the split. They settled down later. I imagine they were just very busy out gathering pollen and nectar, after yesterday's heavy rain. They are gathering from the bushes along the edge of our property, which are loaded with blossoms right now.
So, we'll next check in about a week to see if there are worker larva in both hives. If so, we should be all right.
Checking later, we were finally seeing some bees coming and going from that hive. They were very active in the old hive, so much so that I was a bit concerned they were maybe going to swarm even though we had done the split. They settled down later. I imagine they were just very busy out gathering pollen and nectar, after yesterday's heavy rain. They are gathering from the bushes along the edge of our property, which are loaded with blossoms right now.
So, we'll next check in about a week to see if there are worker larva in both hives. If so, we should be all right.
Sounds like a success!
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