Pollen

The girls have actually been taking in pollen for some time now. The first pollens available to them in the season is from trees.

A quick glance as I passed this hive revealed bees covered from tip to tail in YELLOW! So thick with pollen that I couldn't see any stripes - and I thought there was something wrong with them.

Much can be learned about your hive by observing from the outside. Bees incoming with pollen...means BROOD. Pollen is the bees protein - it's body builder. Nectar/Honey is the bees carbohydrate - it's energy.

Lack of pollen inflow can mean a couple of things:

• Remember, that the queen slows laying and stops all together in preparation for swarming (this is a good thing - you have lots of bees in the box!). Check the hive for swarm/queen cells. Remove ALL queen cells and or create a "false swarm" (consult your favorite bee book for details). or SPLIT the hive - ideally - you want the queen in one box and the new queen cells in the other.....if you're unsure - check both soon after for eggs to verify which box the queen is in.
• Something has happened to your queen or she's failing miserably. Check for her. Check for eggs (no eggs = no queen). If you have a spotty brood pattern and/or a lot of drone brood, the queen's fertility is failing - this hive will fail. Replace her. If it's too late to purchase a queen, and you still have sufficient workers to make one, give them a frame of eggs from another hive. If this colony is otherwise healthy and it's getting late in the season - you may want to plan on combining it with another hive before winter (you'll have to pinch the weak queen - if she exists). Your goal is to go into the cold months with strong & populated hives - population increases their chance of survival.
• Disease. Check the hive for signs of disease with your bee book in hand. Treat if neccessary. Don't combine colonies weakened by disease with healthy hives. Nature may take it's course with this hive.