This is where is gets interesting. This hive was a queenless split about 28 days ago. The numbers in this hive are extremely high and way more than I would have expected. I think some other bees from different hives cam back into this hive on her mating flights. This might explain the drop in numbers for hive 020. No eggs were seen yet. I was going to put on a honey super, but the queen is too small still and will simply move through the queen excluder. I attempted to catch the queen but she flew off overhead. I was not able to confirm she was back in the hive box but I left the top off for a good 30 minutes.
The queen has a beautiful brown and black striped abdomen.
