photo by Todd KingA beekeeper e-mailed me this photo of an over-wintered hive. It was taken on a hot day last week. The over-wintered colony is on the right, a package from the first load is in the middle, a dead out on the end. He is planning on switching the hives with each other, over-wintered position with the package position. The over -wintered colony will get weaker and the package will get stronger. He also plans to move two or three frames of brood from the overwintered to the package. This is a good strategy, he will end up with two strong colonies right before the nectar flow. Swarming is still a concern but it is less likely.
The grass is cut and this helps keep down swarming.