Brand new hive behavior

[scottw1]

My wife and I received our first two hives last week.  We placed them in their respective homes one day apart.  Hive one has tremendous activity outside while hive two is less active but appears to be functioning properly.  Should I be concerned that hive two is less active externally or should I give it time to settle in to the new environment given it has only been 3 days?

[Alan Forbes]

Were they the same size?  Are they from a bee breeder?  If they are a different race, the less active hive might need warmer temperatures to start activity.  What part of the country are you in?  Or are you still hopelessly lost?

[JP]

The beauty of having more than one hive is you get to see their respective differences/personalities. Its only been 3 days, give them time to bee all they can bee.


...JP

[scottw1]

I'm located in Bakersfield, Ca.  It would appear after a few days that the two hives have distinctive personalities with hive one being a little more active externally and hive two appearing to be setting up "shop" more deliberately.  I also noticed that several bees were lining up on the "landing pad" with abdomens up even though there appeared to be no threat to the hive or am I misinterpreting this activity?

[JP]

 The ones with the abdomen's up are orienting to the hive location.


...JP