That's more like the bees I know...

On Tuesday I went over to check on that nuc I installed on Sunday. I approached the hive, saw that the feeder was already empty and mixed up some sugar syrup. In two days the bees had already eaten a pint of sugar syrup! They were indeed thirsty. What was really nice was there temperment. I was concerned that they would be like when I installed them so I put on my veil and gloves as tight as I could and slowly approached the hive. I thought it was odd that on the sand around the hive bees were landing, licking the ground, and then flying back up to repeat the process. I stood next to the nuc, reached down, grabbed the feeder; gently pulling it back and there were half a dozen Small Hive Beetles that had been hiding under it. Surprisingly though, the bees hadn't given me a single buzz yet. The jar was clearly empty so I pulled it out gingerly and slowly placed in another. Still, not a single bee had so much as flown up to my veil. I put the feeder back into the enterence and just stood there for a few seconds. Watching the bees at work, bringing back pollen and nectar and defending the hive. After a few seconds I walked back to the car, took off my gear and drove(rode) on home. It's really to bad that as colonies become larger they become more aggressive. To be honest, I can't wait until spring when the colony is small and gentle. Now that my colony has gotten so large it would be idotic to inspect them without wearing gloves and a veil. Hopefully, this weekend I'll get pictures of both. I think that right now the colony at my house is getting close to or above 60,000 bees.