First hive inspection

Sorry, no pictures.. I didn't have an assistant this time around. I watched the bees fly in and out a bit before I opened up the hive. There were a bunch of workers flying in and out, and their legs were full of yellow and orange pollen. All in all, they seemed lively and abuzz with excitement. Ba dum. Upon opening the hive, I first checked that the queen cage was empty. It was, though there were a few stray workers checking the place out still. I removed the cage, and then the frame for a quick inspection. I didn't look for the queen or new brood-- a mistake on my part-- because the excess comb the workers had built in the space between the center frames distracted me. They apparently didn't like the excess space that the queen cage put between the center frames. I would have removed the cage earlier, but it's been close to freezing the past few days. I removed the 3-4 square inches of comb (a layer on top of the frame layer, between which there was space for bees to walk). I uncapped a few honey stores in the process, but it couldn't be helped. I restored the intended spacing of the frames in this way. Looking in between the frames, the workers appear to have built out between two and four frames of comb. Not knowing how much brood the queen has laid, I can't accurately gauge the colony's health. Also, they don't seem all that interested in the syrup right now. Does that mean they have better nectar sources? They do live next door to a garden center! Or, do they get freaked out by having to eat syrup with their dead buddies floating around in it?Some helpful beeks on local message boards tell me that they're ignoring the syrup probably because they found a better nectar source. Assuming that's the case, I plan on removing their top feeder on my next inspection.