No Hive Beetles!

It warmed enough to take another look. I couldn't see a single hive beetle! No idea whether they are hiding or gone, but I like it. There were a few on the bottom screen the other day, so I squashed them or brushed them off.

There seem to be fewer bees. Very few are sleeping outside overnight and inside was less crowded. This is the right side, which would have been full of bees earlier:



The left side is similar:
The dark brown comb on the bottom was in a pic posted 9/16 with many filled cells. I thought maybe they were drone. Anyway, they've hatched. The dark brown is because this is brood comb which is constantly reused and retains some materials from each new bee which gives it the color.

There has been a curious behavior for a week or two. I'll see a bee grabbing hold of another bee and trying to drag it away. Sometimes they succeed and often just fall off the doorstep. The bee being attacked is bigger, so I wonder if it's a drone. I saw it again today but in the left side of the hive.