Much better weather today so we only had to do two quick jobs which we couldn't manage in the rain yesterday - checking for eggs in the first hive and removing a frame of bait comb from the second one.
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First Hive (Bea):
This is the colony we artificially swarmed from the brood which is now inhabiting the two small nucleus hives. Both of those have since shown signs of illness so we are going to be checking carefully for any signs in this colony too. 
There was still an adequate amount of stores in the supers, especially for what is now such a small colony.
The brood frames were in good clean condition too, with the foundation frames being well built up.
It's hard to see here, but every one of these cells has one tiny egg standing in it - there was no need for us to spend time searching for the queen as she is clearly laying well. This is a real relief because when we divided this colony last week she was actually in the process of swarming, literally ready to head out of the door![PS - a nice shot of some bees sharing nectar in the centre of that photo, with their tongues visible]
I was surprised to see these on another frame - more swarm cells.
Not one of them contained an egg though so nothing to be concerned about, I hope..
Second Hive (Charlie):
I've not been looking forward to this bit - I need to carry out the first stage of the 'bait comb' brood removal treatment. Because varroa mites only reproduce in the sealed cells, I can now remove the only frame in this small colony which contains sealed cells, and so (in theory, at least) remove every single varroa mite in the colony. 
I removed the frame and gently brushed every bee off it back into the brood box.
It's also a good idea to remove and replace old brood comb regularly for routine hygiene reasons, especially when it is clearly well-used like this, but it's still hard not to think about all those bee pupae in there which will have to be destroyed as well. I'll make it as quick and painless as possible - a few moments in the freezer will kill everything on the frame, both the good and the bad.
We replaced this frame with a new one, sliding the built-up frames in the centre together so that there are no gaps in this small, vulnerable brood.
