It is sunny and I decide to check up on my hives. When I take a frame out, it is very heavy. There are some cells capped white, others in the center are capped yellowish. There is also some new comb drawn on the bottom. I sent the picture together with some others to Bill and Agnes asking for advice. About this one, Agnes writes: "nice photo of the frame of brood & honey showing a very nice pattern. This is what you want to see in your hive, a nice arching center patch of brood and honey in the corners. This looks like a frame from the center of the brood. As you move outward frame by frame there will be a reduced brood arch and more honey in the corners to the outermost frame that will be all honey and pollen."
   

When I pull the styrofoam, I notice that the bees had carved holes into it and had begun to draw comb. It reminded me of the rock dwellings that humans built wherever they found caves in cliffs.

In one of the two hives, I see a lot of dead bees on the wire. Later I think I might have squeezed them when I pushed the frames together during the previous inspection. I clean them out by moving a frame and then pushing them out the front end. The bees there are all excited because I removed the mouse guard and there is a big entrance at the front.

I take a closer look at the dead bees. There appears to be some mold on some of them. Beeing (beeing?) worried I am writing to Bill and Agnes. Bill writes: "'m not too sure what the dead bees are other than the package bees consisted of a high percentage of older field bees, and it is natural that a lot of them have reached the end of their life span. The green-greyish fluffy stuff I have no idea. My guess would be mold. When was the last time you checked the screen for dead bees? The loss of 50 - 60 bees over several days is not uncommon." For the moment, I am apeased. I decide to check again in a few days.