Three weeks ago, I told you about the drama with hive #1. It had swarmed and was queenless, so I gave them a frame from hive #2 who already has a queen. That frame also had 2 capped queen cells, so I was optimistic that all would be right in their little bee world soon.

A week later, I impatiently checked on the girls. The first thing I noticed, was this queen cell.

This queen cell has not hatched. If it had, it would be opened on the end, like a can of beans. Instead, the side has been breached. Which tells me that an existing queen has attacked this queen cell, killing the developing queen inside, and the workers have opened it up and removed the dead larvae. Ooooo we probably have a queen! So I start looking for eggs, and I find them. Yes! We have a queen! We have two hives and two queen bees! But I wanted to find her, so I start looking…

Now this is a funny story, and my apologies, but I did not get any pics of the events I’m going to describe, because I was.. uh panicking. Relevant info: we have a friend staying with us during the shutdown and she was out there with me for the hive inspection. She’s asking questions and I’m answering and telling her things about bees when I say with confidence “oh hey, a mated queen bee can’t fly because she’s too big and heavy with eggs”. I didn’t read that on the interwebs, I actually learned that at bee college from the ultimate bee guru Dr Ellis who knows everything about honey bees so it must be true.

Anyway… so I pulled one frame and saw what looked like a bee stuck in an old queen cell. It was open on both ends and a bee was in there wiggling and trying to get out, when I realized, OMG THAT’S THE QUEEN! She has actually gotten herself stuck in an old queen cell! My mind is kinda blown for a second, because she has been free and laying eggs, she just literally got herself stuck in this old cell. WHAT. I watch her struggle a bit then I realize I need to act. She is really STUCK. So I gently laid the frame down and used a pocket knife to very super carefully open the wax around her. My heart is racing. Omg, hive #1 has a new queen, this is the first time I’ve seen her, and I’m this close to poking her with a knife and also trying very hard to not to accidentally poke her with a knife. With shaky hands, I successfully free her and she walks around all happy to be free, and then promptly makes a liar of me, and Dr Ellis, and FLIES AWAY!!! GASP!!!!

Thank the bee gods, she did not fly far, because queen bees can’t fly, right Dr Ellis!? And she landed on my friend. And we both are now kinda freaking out but also calmly trying to coax this skinny little flying queen bee back into the open hive. When she says nope and FLIES AGAIN. But again lands on my friend. We eventually get this sassy little queen back onto the frame. I snapped a quick pic of her because omg I may never see her again, then I lock eyes on her as I put the frame back in the hive and close it up, being 100% sure she is safe and sound and exactly where she should be.

Here is the sassy little “B” of hive #1. She more of a Diva than a Queen I think. She needs a diva name. I’m thinking Beyoncé?

So, Hive1 has a queen, and things are gonna be ok as long as Queen Bey sticks around. The population on Hive1 is not great though, but that’s to be expected since the swarm. It’s gonna take a while for them to build their numbers up again. It’s fine, it just means I’m not gonna get to collect any honey for a while. I have reduced the hive down to one box again, and they still have plenty of room to grow.

So all that happened 2 weeks ago. I inspected both hives again today, and both hives still have new eggs so Bey has not flown the coop, and things are still good. I absolutely could not find her today though. I should have been able to find her. She probably flew away when I opened the hive. Hahaha no don’t even think that. The actual truth is that a young new queen can fly, but the longer she’s in there and the more eggs she lays, the bigger and heavier she gets. It’s unlikely that she flew off this time. I swear. I’m 99%… well maybe 80%… um, 70% sure? [nervous smile]

Hive 2 is doing well though. Numbers are going up and it’s getting nice and full. Queenie is busy and not flying off, so I got some pics of her too.

How about a game of Find the Queen? No spoilers this time though! Click the photo to enlarge.

Did you find her?

This is not a spoiler for the above photo. Here she is in a different position. She needs a name too. A non-diva name because she’s cool and has not tried to give me a heart attack.

That’s all the buzz worthy news. I have two hives, one Diva and one Queen, and a whole bunch of bees.

In other news, we’re building a chicken coop now. Soon I will have the birds & the bees. Heh. Maybe another blog too? 🐝

The Diva and The Queen