... o' mice an' men gang aft agley.
I had added a top bar in Olea's and the bees had built comb on it. Last week the comb was covered with bees so I added a ninth bar. Olea's seems to be doing well.
Today, I looked into #3 to see if it might need a new frame. The first thing I noticed was that there were fewer bees than I expected. Then I saw a capped queen cell. This cell is smaller than the usual queen cell. I looked for the queen, but did not see her. I am afraid that the queen died somehow and the bees are making a replacement. Unfortunately, there are no drones at this time of year for her to mate with. I have read that if a queen does not mate within week or so of emerging that she will never mate. I had schemed that this colony would be a strong one come spring and I would only need to make one split from #1. Ah, well...
I looked into #1 and there is still brood in the medium box. I did not look into the deep box.
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