Some good news, some so-so news

Since the last post, I've been in each Langstroth hive once.

Frame of brood in #2

About two weeks ago, I opened #2 and, overall, it looked good.  In the super were two frames of capped honey and two frames with unripe honey (nectar).  There was some brood in the top brood box and some honey.  In the bottom brood box, I spotted the queen and four frames of brood. The girls still haven't drawn any new comb. Last time in, I had put in one of my jerry-rigged foundationless frames.  Not only was no comb drawn, the bees had also removed almost all the wax I had  stuck onto it.  Also, in the last inspection I had moved a frame with old, black wax to the side and this time I took it out and replaced it with another one of my foundationless frames.  (At some point, I'll need to take out my jerry-rigged frames and place a shim or wedge in the top groove like there should be for the bees to draw comb).  The old comb was in a frame with a wax foundation that came in one of the nucs I had purchased in the spring.  It was so dark that the sun barely shone through only a few cells. 

Old, dark comb

Mystery cups on the crossword

This picture is way too light, imagine it even blacker. When I broke it apart Iwas surprised to see small hard cups at the bottom of each cell.  I figure that this was the propolised feces and remains of cocoons from all the previous larvae/tenants of the cells. 

One of the cups in Karly's hand

Old comb broken apart and stacked

I intend to process all this wax by boiling rather than the solar melter.  I'll see if that method works well for old wax.
Yesterday, with some trepidation,  I looked into #1.  It was time to find out what had happened with the queen (refer to earlier blog).  I had been watching the entrance since last inspection and the amount of activity seemed stable.  However, it is common beekeeping knowledge that the colony can be dying in the hive and look normal from outside.
The first thing I noticed was that there were no longer a plethora of drones.  I saw this in the supers.  There was a lot of brood in the top box, and I spotted the queen.  As you can see, she is fat and golden unlike her small, dark predecessor.

Our new monarch

 I don't know if she was made from the frame I put in, or if the colony had already made a new queen via supersedure.  I may have inspected in the few day window in which the queen has hatched, mated and not yet started laying. 

Frame full of brood

 There was a lot of brood, and I saw some hatching.  Since it takes three weeks for a worker to go from egg to emergence, I knew that the queen had been laying for at least that long.  Even though I would expect a daughter of the old queen to be darker, the timing makes me think that the colony had taken care of matters on their own.

A new worker hatching

 There was some brood in the bottom brood box, as well.  I took out the drone frame and substituted a regular frame with foundation. 
I did get stung twice through my nitrile gloves.  Next inspection, I'll also wear a pair of exam gloves underneath.
I scraped off propolis, amassing a golf ball size hunk.  I think I'll get a propolis trap.

Today I went into #3.  The population still seems static.  I spotted the queen and 2-3 frames of brood in the bottom box.  No new comb, very little honey.  I decided to start feeding them in hopes of stimulating them.  Perhaps there's a problem with the queen, herself.