First check

I hived the girls on Tuesday evening. Today, Saturday morning, seemed like a good time to make sure the queens were released, and everyone had settled in cozily.

May weather being what it is, I haven't even had a chance to see them flying all week, since it was too chilly in the mornings and we were having cold, drizzly evenings. But today I was reassured even before opening the hives by the site of bees bringing in pollen.

I gave them a bit of smoke and popped the lid. The first colony had already released the queen. The queens are dark, and marked with a blue dot, so they're pretty visible. I pulled a couple of frames, but didn't see her or eggs, and decided to leave them in peace. I pulled out the queen cage, snugged up the frames, and put in the tenth one.

The story was similar in the second hive, except the queen wasn't quite released--the bees had eaten enough candy out for a few to be in there with her, but she was still running around the cage, unsure of how to get out through the candy tunnel. I pulled the screen off and let everyone off into the hive.

Both hives were quiet and gentle. I've given them frames of honey from last year, and a bit of syrup in Boardman-style feeders, just in case, and put on some reducers more for heat retention than because I think anyone will rob them out.