Spring is around the corner

 Even though it is still officially winter, the weather is warm, the purple leaf plum tree is flowering and, I hope, the bees are building up their numbers in preparation for the honey flow. 
There has been little actual work done since the last post, just planning.
The containers used to hold oil to keep the ants out failed as containers.  I am replacing them with ceramic bowls purchased at Goodwill.
On a warm day, I took a look into hive #3.  I had been feeding this weak hive with sugar syrup for a few months.  Much to my consternation, there was no colony.  No queen, a handful of bees on the frame just below the feeder and a small patch of untended, dead brood.

Bee copses on #3 screen

I removed all the frames and searched among the corpses for the queen, unsuccessfully. 
My initial plans for the apiary had been two hives and the bonus top bar hive.  At this time, I am leaning towards removing hive #3.  It is not yet time to make the splits- I need to wait until there are drones.  If my splits are fruitful, I will try to populate Olea's hive.