Where is the Queen Bee?

I’ve been diligently searching for the queen bee and even purchased a new chalk paint stick to mark her - if only I could find her!

I’m growing increasingly suspicious that either I have no idea what I’m doing (largely true when it comes to beekeeping practices), or the queen bee isn’t currently present in this hive. The latter is problematic because it could mean that this colony will eventually die out.

However, during my hive inspection today, I discovered at least three queen bee cells. My research suggests that a bee colony sometimes creates a new queen bee if, for any reason, the existing queen bee has died or gone missing. Interestingly, I learned that the queen bee and standard worker bees share the same genetics. The difference is in their diets: the queen bee is fed a special diet that allows her to become fertile, while future worker bees are fed a different kind of diet that renders them infertile and short-lived. It seems like a tough life for both the worker bees and the queen bee - the queen spends her days confined to the hive, endlessly producing eggs.

My hope is that these queen bee cells will hatch, and the emerging queen will then fly outside for mating before returning to the hive.

I’ve noticed the bees expanding their nest beyond the original frame. This leads me to think I might need to close the top part of the hive, as there are spaces since I fit the regular frame into a horizontal hive. Queen bees develop quickly, so if I’m going to see a queen bee, it’s likely to happen soon.