New Arrival!

Having been away for a few days, I really needed to check what was going on with the queen cells.  First task - the nucleus.  I looked inside, and checked the queen cell that had been nibbled at the end.  To my surprise, I could see it was still sealed.  I carefully opened it up with my hive tool, and this confirmed the worst - inside was a perfectly formed, but dead, queen bee.

I say "the worst", but actually I then had another surprise - I checked the next frame, and saw a new, very-much-alive queen!  I looked around, and sure enough - there was another queen cell, which I'd completely missed before.  It was open - so that must have been hers.  She obviously emerged before the one I'd been keeping my eye on, and had then stung her rival sister to death while she still slept.  To the victor the spoils, I suppose...

So, now that I know she's emerged, I'm going to leave her alone for three weeks while she mates.  When she starts laying eggs, I'll know she's finished mating and I will be able to resume normal hive inspections.

On to hive #2.  The queen cell I'd left in here (after doing the cell graft) was open, so the queen must have emerged.  But, there was no sign of her.  I looked - really thoroughly - but couldn't see her anywhere.  I also noticed that the hive seemed quiet - not as many workers at home as I was expecting.  I think there are two possibilities:

1. As it was a sunny afternoon, the queen was out mating, and most of the workers were out foraging
    
2. The queen has swarmed, and taken half the workers with her

Knowing this blood-line as I do, they are quite swarmy, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if they have swarmed (even though they're really in no condition to do so).  To check, I'm going to put a frame of eggs into the hive (from Miriam) on Thursday.  If they make queen cells, then the queen must have swarmed (or been lost some other way).  If they don't, then the queen is around, and I just didn't spot her.  Either way, the extra eggs will boost the number of bees in the colony.

Finally, Miriam's hive.  As usual, Miriam is doing an excellent job, and there is nothing to report.  Which is nice.