Queen Cassandra is taking her sweet time with laying eggs. Last week when inspecting her hive, I noticed the same roaring sound that I found in my second hive when the queen was gone. There were no fresh eggs and only capped drone cells. Bad news. I was crushed, and immediately began what I can only call freaking out. I called around to find a replacement queen, but everyone was sold out! What to do?!? Eventually, I was able to get the supplier on the phone. He calmly walked me through what I saw and how I was inspecting the bees. He also asked if the bees were still collecting pollen. They were. He said that the bees would have stopped collecting pollen if she were gone. To discover Cassandra's existence, I took a frame of fresh eggs out of Queen Penelope's hive and placed it in Queen Cassandra's hive. The bees will supersede the queen if she is hurt or missing with these new eggs.
Transferring that frame of eggs was so stressful. I looked and looked at that frame to ensure that Queen Penelope was not on it. She was just beginning to be successful, and I dreaded the fact that I was doing something that risked hurting or losing her. I smoked the frame and brushed the bees back into the hive to clear the frame of bees. I replaced the frame with a new one and took the frame with eggs to Queen Cassandra's hive.
I went into Queen Cassandra's hive today to check for queen cells or new eggs. I didn't see either or those things. The bees had capped some of the brood as workers, but there was no evidence of trying to replace the queen. As I continued through the hive, I didn't find any more brood, but I did find the elusive Queen Cassandra. So she is alive and well, but in no rush to make my life easier.
My next step is to check back for eggs or queen cells in the next few days. Below are some photos of Queen Penelope and Queen Cassandra.
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