Inside each of those plastic tubes there was a queen secured with a candy plug, which the worker bees removed to free her majesty. By Aprl 11, all three new queens were out.
The bees seem happily installed in their new home and ignored me. I gave them a couple honey frames left over from last year and 1-1 sugar syrup since there wasn't much to forage on yet.
April 19, a sunny Sunday afternoon at the apiary. Quick check a week later, the queens seem to be laying, and the field bees were bringing in green and yellow pollen.
