Today's Ladies Journal

I checked on the ladies today because I believed they might be ready for another hive box on top. When I monitored the syrup level the other day, I noticed they were beginning to build comb in the entrance to the feeder . Thinking this was an indication that they had drawn out all the frames in the hive body and wanted to move up, I needed to provide them with more room to expand. Only way to know for sure is to open it up and go in. To my surprise they had not drawn out much more comb than on my inspection from last weekend. Hmm? One good sign was the total number of capped cells indicating pupating larva. A few drone cells and the rest worker cells(You can tell which is which by the shape of the cap on the cell.). Probably a good four to five total frame of larva. Way to go Queen. What to do now?
I decided to resort to actual math. Probably should have done that before, but hey I'm not a scientist. It takes 21 days from egg to worker bee(24 for drones, they're resource hogs). I know the first day I saw eggs was Saturday the 17th, I saw larva and capped cells on the 25th. If the eggs were very new, and I think they were due to there size and position, then 21 days from the 17th would make the day of emergence the 8th of May. I probably have a 2-3 day window for this so with any luck I should begin seeing the new brood anywhere from the 5th to the 8th of May.
This is good news, though I fear the population is dwindling. This is possibly why they have not drawn out too much more comb. They are stretched pretty thin between the duties of gathering and nest building. May 8th will be four weeks since they were installed and given a bees life span is only 6-8 weeks, they are surely suffering from attrition. However, come the first week of May the population should begin to increase exponentially. Maybe by 1100 or so bees a day. Fingers crossed.
I did change the syrup today. It was beginning to get a bit funky. It doesn't look like they have been eating it. It could be because there is plenty of forage out now or it could be because it was a bit whiffy. I'll check again in a few days and if they haven't eaten it I will have my answer and possibly remove the feeder. I need to check and see whether I should keep the feeder while the population grows.

ps. No evidence of Small Hive Beetles(SHB) today. Prior to today I have seen a couple at each opening. Good deal.