Bees will end up in all sorts of stuff. Bees are into chicken feeders, bird feeders, candy, salt water etc. My guess is they are either getting tree resin (propolis) or there is some minerals they like. Not to worry it won't hurt the bees.

First we have a terminology problem. Queen cups are void of eggs or larva. Queen cells are cups with egg or larva or pupa. So I assume you took the two best capped queen cells to make your split? The queen cells are fragile up to about day 10 when they are pulled to make mating nucs. Once the virgin queen emerges it can take 2 weeks plus or minus 5 days to start laying eggs. The virgin queen has to build up its strength, do it orientation flights and then it is ready to make mating flights. Not all queens make it back to the hive. She could get eaten by a bird, pesticides, or a storm. So the key is to bee patient and look for eggs really hard. Then if you find eggs, find the queen and mark her. It will make your beekeeping much easier. As for why the mother hive is queenless? Did she get pinched accidently? Were there any supercedure cells or emergency queen cells? look for eggs again? If the hive is loud and grumpy it may be queenless. You have about 3 weeks from the time you are broodless to the time a laying worker hive develops. Laying workers are a pain to correct. If you have open brood frames you could add them to the hive for the bees to build a new queen. Or you can purchase a mated queen ( if it's not a laying worker hive). I hope that helps? Phil🐝

I write notes on the hive, that way I never lose them. You can paint over them at the end of the season. There are some e-hive apps but I find it to awkward for practical use.

Christina Mullan Tina ia a nice lady and will fix you up.

Check with Tina or anyone on the HCBA board and they can set you up with a mentor.

That is hard to say. What was your mite count before and after treatments? MAQS is very temperature dependent. If it is too warm it will be hard on the bees and queen. I prefer to use MAQS in the Spring and a half dose. There are other effective options for Fall treatments. Whatever treatments you use, make sure you follow the manufactures instructions to the letter.

You should remove the roofing felt yesterday and open up the entrance assuming the hive is strong. Personally I would not have used the smallest hole all winter. Do you have a robbing problem in your apiary.

SHB larvae can be a problem with weak hives. From the sounds of it, you said you had stinky hives which sounds like a lot of slimy SHB larvae. They usually attack the honey/pollen frames. SHB larvae can ruin a honey crop. Do not store honey supers for more than a few day. Extract honey supers as soon as possible. Pollen patties can also contribute to SHB larvae. There are many SHB control products on the market. Pick your product. I would not use any stinky frames that were infested with SHB larvae from last year, but that's just me.

Can't hurt to try. You must be into home brew? Phil

Eric, I'm sure you will get different opinions but here is my take. Yes, I use queen excluders otherwise you will get brood in the honey supers. I have seen some beeks harvest honey with brood in it, not recommended as far as I'm concerned. When you honey labels say PURE honey! brood juice should not be in the mix. The bees will be reluctant to build out new foundation, plastic in particular. As a newbee you don't have much choice. If you are using plastic foundation I would suggest you obtain some pure capping wax and recoat your foundation with clean fresh capping wax. Do not use old brood comb wax that some try to sell you. It is full of contaminants, like mite treatment chemicals and pesticides. You can add your second super when you have 80% of the first super built out. When you add the second super most prefer to bottom super. If you have a STRONG hive during the flow you will not need to move frames above the queen excluder. You could move a frame or two if the bees refuse to build out your new foundation. The thing you need to look for is your hive swarming. The major swarms occur during the nectar flow. When the hive swarms you lose your mated queen and up to 70% of your work force. As a result you get little if any honey. So practice good swarm prevention. Bee Happy! Phil

See previous post: How do you prepare your hives for winter?

To be more specific, Red Maple is good but the weather is usually bad when it blooms. Red Bud is a short and pretty spring source. Black Locust is an excellent nectar source. It takes about 8 years before you see any flowers if planted as a seedling. Tulip Poplar is a good source but it takes about 20 years before you see any tulip flowers. This is an extremely large tree , it grows to around 90 feet tall so unless you have large acreage it may not suit you. It also drops branches. There are many other bushes and trees , some are invasive, so I will not recommend them. Tree planting is a long term endeavor. You can Google nectar sources for honey bees and you find many suggestions,Tree planting my dad use to say is for the future generation. If you are planting seedlings you will need tree tubes to protect them from deer. The tubes cost more than the seedlings. You should pant several acres of Diverse nectar sources as you will find some will not yield every year. it is a lot of work and a long term commitment. Good luck

Amy, Personally I would not use sugar water this time of year. You can increase the hive moisture and the cold sugar water can drip on the cluster. I prefer cold fondant which you can make at home. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQlXKSPoRn0 The fondant will also absorb hive moisture. Bee Happy! Phil

Successful overwintering starts in August. First get varroa mites under control. Don't just treat but also measure the mite load after treatments. Requeen with a new queen. Young queens have a better chance of surviving a bad winter. A queen failure is a hive failure. Add a mouse guard on hive. Provide ample stores for your area. Provide cold fondant if necessary. Provide windbreaks or wrap the hive. I do not insulate the hive. I don't think it's effective. What good is insulation if you leave the front door open? As you can tell from my YouTube videos the inside hive temperature is around 30 degrees on very cold mornings. My bees have survived morning temperatures as low as -5 degrees. I have never lost an overwintered nuc (they all had new queens). I have lost one overwintered full size hive due to queen failure ( it was an old queen too). Below are some youtube videos from prior winters for your viewing pleasure. Feb 4, 2019 , Overwintering a 5 Frame Nuc Making Cold Fondant or Bee Candy Jan 31, 2019 Below Zero Morning Feb 4, 2019 out yard hive check Snowmageddon 2016 Broodminder Data upload

I'm not sure what your feeder looks like. If you remove the plastic liner and add wood ships for a bit of ventilation above the wood chips that should work.

Taylor, I hope you treated for varroa mites. I hope you have tested after treatment to make sure you varroa load is <1% ? The second thing is make sure have a windbreak. As far as drones I have seen drones in January. If the hive has plenty of stores they will allow drones. We do get warm days even in January. You can open the hives on warm days to check the bees and move frames as required add fondant if low on stores.The bee photos look good!

Mite treatments are best done end of August beginning of September. OA is used during the brood less period, .because 2/3 of the mites are under the cappings so OA will not be as effective. I would use ApiVar this time of year.

Every beekeeper has their preferred method. Whatever works for you . Notch down provides an upper entrance for the bee which they will use if the lower is snowed in. Some say it helps with moisture but I'm not so sure about that. Moisture boards absorb moisture, there are also other techniques as well. Mouse guards are a good choice. A wind break is also a good idea,. Some beekeepers insulate their hives . I don't see any benefit here in MD. My hives and overwintered nucs have survived 33 inches of snow and 5 below zero with no insulation.

Hard to tell from the photos. It could be wasp or yellow jackets, See link below: https://www.google.com/search?q=wasp&tbm=isch&hl=en&chips=q:wasp,g_1:yellow+jacket:H7glX5USaQw%3D&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjgz-v0gd3rAhVEPN8KHVrJDfYQ4lYoAXoECAEQFw&biw=1327&bih=698