My Good Dog

First the bees:
I returned 3 bars from an overnight stint in the freezer, and now I'm sure I've frozen all the brood comb except the very front bar, which the bees have kept clear of beetles. It finally dawned on me that carpenter ants were congregating in the dark space behind the follower board, because they like the dark: and I took away the bars covering the back part of the hive. The hive proper is still pretty snugly closed by the propolis-caulked follower board. It seems to have worked--there haven't been any more ants since Monday.
There are still beetle larvae crawling around on the floor of the hive, with bees in hot pursuit. I hope that my freezing tactic has killed all the eggs to date. If the larvae can't escape the hive to pupate, perhaps the infestation will burn itself out. I didn't see a single adult beetle as I worked the hive today.
I have started seeing some very dark colored bees. Most of my girls have been sort of golden buff with black stripes, but these new bees have darkly striped abdomens with very little lightness. I have no earthly idea what I'm seeing. They seem to be fully accepted as part of the hive. Are they the result of some wild genetics brought in by the new queen I hope is still out there?
They started taking the syrup Tuesday, with some enthusiasm. I stirred a teaspoon of Celtic salt into this batch, for the minerals, so maybe that's what they like.
Apart from offering food, I'm going to leave the ladies alone for a while. Perhaps they can sort themselves out.
It hasn't rained for several days, and this led to an unexpected consequence today. We're keeping Ginger, the chick Michelle and family raised, in a chicken tractor by her lonesome until she gets big enough to run loose. At present, she's still a convenient snack size. The latch on said tractor has not been working right because of all the rain: the wood swelled, and the latch didn't line up correctly. It wasn't a problem; since the door was so swollen, it stuck firmly shut. Today, while we were at work, it dried up enough--apparently--that it just fell open. Jordan called when he got home, to ask if I'd let the peeper out, which of course I had not. She was missing.
I can't really express how awful I felt, to think that this baby only lasted 4 days at my house. How could I possibly tell Michelle? and the girls---??? I'd already horrifed them by handing them some eggs to hatch and then blithely stating that we ate all the other eggs, which they took to understand that we routinely eat baby chicks.
Jordan called and sprinkled food and looked around the yard--for those of you that have seen the yard, you'll understand how daunting it is; "yard" doesn't quite capture the jungly, swampy feel of the Sanctuary--but Ginger didn't show. When I got home, I did much the same thing, still no Gin. I showed Camille the coop, and asked her where my chicken was. She got a good smellerfull, then went zigzagging around the yard, nose to ground. It looked aimless, at first, but after a moment I realized that's pretty much how a chicken walks around, so I followed. Camille tracks at a relaxed saunter, so I can keep up. Before long, most of the other chickens and a couple cats were following us around, too. We're a team. I kept calling, my best Michelle imitation, and then Camille stuck her head under a log and wagged her tail. And there was Ginger, all in one piece.
Such a good dog.