Last time I was in the hives, they were both booming with brood. I had swapped brood boxes on #1 to get her majesty laying in the emptier of the 2 boxes. It worked.
Started on hive 2, because they’re a bit better tempered, and I wasn’t in the mood to spend more time in a cloud of pissed off bees than i had to.
Hive 2 is a daughter of hive1, with a queen i got from Jim Hill. It’s doing great. Some queen cups, thankfully unoccupied. This queen is usually friendly, popping up to say “Hi” at some point in the inspection but I guess she was busy laying eggs. I added a queen excluder and a medium super to hopefully get a little honey from these ladies. It also got a shiny new bottom board that I had built. The existing board was one I had bought on the cheap, it had served its purpose but I just didn’t like it. I know, the bees don’t care.
Hive1 is still booming with lots and lots of capped brood and larvae present. This is a red-dot queen that has absolutely exceeded my hopes (Thanks Fred)! Some queen cups, no one was home in them but I see a split in this hive’s future, perhaps 2 this year. This hive got a shiny new bottom board, a queen excluder, and a second honey super. These ladies are not as content to let me mess around their nethers so I actually used the smoker for a few huffs.
This web site really has all the information and facts I wanted concerning this subject and didn’t know who to ask.