Bee patient.

It is a lovely day in the mid to high 70s and sunny. A perfect day to check on the bugs. Before I tell you what I saw today, let me recap.

Three weekends ago, I offered the girls a new queen. She was my 3rd queen, and the second queen that I've purchased. Freddie, my first purchased queen, was our queen for all of 1 month before she vanished. When I found no eggs and dwindling brood, as well as queen cells, I knew it wasn't good news. So I bought another queen and put her in the hive on November 4th. I didn't check them again until the following Saturday, the 9th. I did not find what I wanted to find. I found no eggs, as well as evidence of a mite infestation.

I was convinced the new queen didn't make it. The bees took her out, or for some other bee-reasoning, she was gone because there were no eggs. Bee Guru told me to leave the hive alone for a month. Maybe they'll raise a queen. Maybe not. I was resigning myself to losing this colony and starting over in the spring.

Since today's weather is so nice, and I am impatient, I took the opportunity to check today. It's been two weeks, not a month, but I'll just look and see whats going on. I'll be quick. In, out. There will probably be no brood at all by this point, but I just need to see.

Hi girls!

Guys. There is brood. There are young larvae. There are big fat larvae. And there are capped brood cells. WE HAVE A QUEEN. I admittedly did not actually see eggs, but I did find young larvae and that is good enough to confirm that there is a queen.

Capped brood!! New bees are growing!!

Itty bitty little larvae!

Beautiful big fat larvae!

There has not been enough time for the girls to have raised their own queen, for her to mate, and then begin laying eggs, that have now grown to the size they are. So apparently the queen I bought on the 4th did not in fact die or disappear mysteriously. She was just taking her sweet time to get started. All of my panic and disappointment could have been avoided if I had just been a little more patient, but I am after all, me.

She is in there laying eggs. My colony is going to be ok... this time. The lesson here is to be patient with bees and a brand new queen. But patience is something I've been trying to learn for 40+ years, and I'm still not very good at it. Especially with new things that I'm excited about. I am what I am.

So queenie is in there, doing her thing. She was not marked, so I may never find her. But I am hoping that she lasts a while. Remember... my first queen lasted about a month since I brought my bees home. And Freddie was only with us for about a month before she vanished.

Queen #3 has been with us for almost 3 weeks already. She's my third queen.

Her name is... Charmaine. Charm for short. 🤞🏻🐝