We have a Queen!

Burr Comb in the Beagle Hive

I waited nearly three weeks for the queens to hatch, mate and begin laying before I checking in on the two splits. I started with the Datsyuk hive, the walk-away split and was not surprised to see the population way down and nearly all the food gone as they've been taking from the entrance feeder like crazy! Remember that I wrote that emergency queens are sometimes not a strong queen? The couple that I've had started out quite small so I took my time searching for the queen. The hive was gentle and chained when I pulled out a frame, leading me to believe she is there, but I didn't see her and I certainly did not see signs of brood which I expected to be present.

Beagle Queen

The Beagle hive was fiesty and so full, those silly bees were making burr comb everywhere! And there is brood but I was most excited to spot the lovely, light and very fat queen!

My plan is to inspect the Dmitry hive soon, weather permitting - we have rain forecast for the next few days, and if they have a queen now and she's laying well I may move a frame and a bunch of bees over to the Datsyuk hive and give them one more try at making a queen. Or I may see if I can purchase a queen locally as I know a couple of beekeepers who produce good queens.