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I had one like that too!!

Welcome.  Check out this video to get a lot of good education on beekeeping.

Beekeeping by Rotation System

I agree, I would wait a little while to let them build up some more, then add another Deep box.

this is a link to a video from Europe somewhere.  Probably the best one out there for educational purposes.

Beekeeping by Rotation System

[I had got some bees about 10 days ago.]

As you may know on my other post I mentioned that I had got some bees about 10 days ago. T

oday after doing some other stuff I came home, suited up and open the hive for the check up. I was looking for destructive critters, the queen/pollen/nectar/brood. I found all three but not critters.

There are 8 frames in there. Comb was being drawn out on 6 of the 8.

You do not tell, that is that hive, swarm, package, nuc or what.
after 10 days 6/8 foundation has been drawn. It tells that the colony is not very strong and it has done its job.
Colony cannot continue its job larger and larger, unless it gets new bees and colony grows.
As long as hive has undrawn foundations, you need not to think to enlarge the hive.
If the hive is package, it takes 4 weeks that colony starts to enlarge, up to that the bee number will go to half.

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[/b]Has anyone else had or know of anyone that has ever had an adverse reaction to bee stings like this?

I've been keeping bees for about 3 years.  About 8 months ago I began having minor joint pain and swelling in one knee.  Over the past 3 months the pain has gotten worse and began to spread to other joints.  First my fingers on my left hand, then the fingers on my right hand.  Pain got really bad about two months ago, so I went to the Doctor.  He didn't know what is happening.  They tested blood & urine for gout, rheumatoid arthritis, and Lupus; all came back negative.  X-ray showed swelling, but nothing else.  He sent me home without any treatment.
I went back to the Doctor about a month later because pain and swelling was getting worse still and spreading; now into my back and right foot.  They ran some additional test and still found nothing.  So they put me on a steroid pill to see what happened.  Within two days the swelling started to go down and the pain was mostly relieved.  The steroid treatment lasted about 13 days, and I continued to improve.  After that the symptoms began to return.  I called the Doctor and he gave me another Rx for the steroid pill.  I'm about half way through the second steriod treatment and things are getting better again. 

Has anyone else had or know of anyone that has ever had an adverse reaction to bee stings like this? 
I don't know that it is being caused by bee stings, but bee keeping is the only thing that has really changed in my activities in the past few years.  I probably get stung 3-4-5 times a week on average, and don't have any unusual immediate reactions.  No abnormal swelling or itching.  No breathing problems.  No other known allergies.
I have always heard and read that bee stings would not cause problems, but were good for treatment of such problems. 

I found myself needing a smoker and, being frugal, I decided to make one.
I used an empty disposable propane tank for the outer body. I wrenched off the threads and it created a hole that was perfect for a piece of 1/2" copper. I secured that with a conduit nut from the inside.
Making the bellows had me perplexed until I came up with the idea of cutting all the pages out of a small hardcover book and using the hard covers and the binding as a hinge. Of course, no project is complete without duct tape.
I put some trim stock inside to make it spring back after being compressed. For the airway, I used a piece of brass cut from a spent rifle cartridge.

Inside the propane canister is a soup can with a bunch of holes in it. The propane canister has a false bottom in it so that REALLY helps with the heat.
I just used some leather to act as a hinge for the top of the smoker. That's the only drawback, I wish it had a tighter seal. It doesn't hurt anything the way it is (it just adds a little smoke for the flyers!) I think that I can make a slit in the outer main portion of the propane canister and taper it in a little. That would make the top fit right over the main body.



I hope you like it - or at least find it interesting!

I don't think they were preparing to swarm. She's an overwintered queen, and I kept the brood box open. I only moved her so the donor hive would have to make another queen, breaking the mite cycle, and hopefully gaining some honey in the process. Thanks for reply. I like the idea about taking a picture. Didn't think of that. Dont lug out my 8x magnifiers unless I'm grafting. Getting to the point I need to wear them 24-7.

Ok, so I have reduced how much I've been checking on them. 

I went out today to take a look, and to me, I feel like things aren't going well.  However, I wouldn't know really, hence why I'm bugging you guys.    I checked a couple of weeks ago and saw a queen cell.  It was capped.  Today, the cell was gone.  I did not stay in the hive long enough to verify a new queen was present.

I did see more eggs(still more than 1 per cell), larvae, and some bees emerging from their cells.

It seemed like I saw a lot more drones than ever before. 

Population seems to be around the same.  Maybe less, but not more.

Very little progress on comb building.

Thanks for the help in advance.

Dagnabbit, JP, why'd you hafta go and mention onion rings? Now I'm hungry. 

Off to the kitchen to grab a snack, so I can watch more videos....