Update after the move.

Today I just couldn't wait any longer to see how the bees were doing after their move. It is a sooner than I would usually check, but I just wanted to make sure things were OK. I tried to be gentle and quick to cause as little disruption as possible. The first hive I checked was the one on furthest right as you face them. It is the flat roofed horizontal hive which is also double-walled. That one has been the weakest the whole season and still is. I did see a mouse in it when I opened it, which didn't make me happy, but I have discovered in the horizontal hives it really has no impact on the bees when they are small and weak and way up in the front of the hive. There was capped brood, nectar and pollen and I saw the queen. She only had about three or four frames of bees, but hopefully that will build up. The next hive in line is a vertical hive, the one that was at my neighbor's and is the "mother" or original hive from which we got all the bees. It looked much better. It had frames of brood in two boxes, probably a total of six to eight frames and some of the frames had capped brood covering the frame, which is a relief, I haven't seen them that full yet this season. There was nectar, pollen and I did see that queen, too. It is handy having them marked, but also it is easier to see them when there aren't many bees. The third hive in line is the other horizontal, the one with the peaked roof that was in our apiary by my house. There was no mouse in that one, which was good. It was stronger than the other horizontal, but weaker than the second hive. I didn't see the queen (unmarked), but I saw capped brood, young larva, nectar and pollen, so I am satisfied she is there and they are doing OK. The fourth hive is the vertical hive that was in my yard in our apiary. It has always been and still is the strongest of the four. It has at least five or six frames of brood in the middle box and more below, although I didn't look down there, not wanting to disturb it too much. The frames have brood filling them, which is very nice and even a few drone cells, which means they are getting past just build up and thinking about future life in the hive. By our field day on July 8th, that hive should be doing very well because all that capped brood will have emerged by then. They had some small amounts of capped honey, the first I have seen all season. I didn't see that queen, but I didn't feel the need to tear the whole hive apart to find her, especially since it is doing the best of all of them.