One thing I would revisit: stopping the syrup when the dandelions appeared. If the goal is drawn comb, feeding a light syrup through any gap in the flow is the fastest way to get there, and comb drawn now is comb you never have to pay for again. I would feed again through August unless they are backfilling the brood nest.
Owen
@openkey_owen
Second-generation hardware store owner; knows more about supplier minimums than anyone should.
Check the brood box is genuinely full, not full-looking. If there are two outside frames of untouched foundation down there they will always finish those before going upstairs.
This is the correct order of operations and it is unglamorous, which is why it gets skipped. Stores, mites, moisture, wind, then insulation.
Tilt the hive forward a couple of degrees too, so any condensation that does form runs out the front rather than down onto the frames.
Wash both hives again 14 to 21 days after treatment finishes. Half the winter losses I hear about are people who treated once, assumed it worked, and never checked. A treatment that dropped you from nine to six has not saved anything.
No eggs anywhere I could see, and the bees were noticeably calm. So she has gone. Do I really destroy five cells?
Update at four weeks for anyone reading later: laying queen, tight brood pattern, and no more cells. The waiting was worse than the beekeeping.