Last week I was out in the apiary giving a future beekeeper a “hive tour” when I thought I saw the beginnings of queen cells in Mega Hive. During that trip to the hives I was really just showing this new person some basics, so I couldn’t really explore any further at the time. For two days I stewed and worried about these cells. We had seen eggs in this hive, but had never actually found the queen, so I wondered if she maybe died. Then I thought about how enormous that hive is and, despite our constant efforts to stay ahead of it, the bees are building like crazy, so I started to worry about a swarm. We had two days of rain, so I was just twiddling my thumbs, convincing myself that by the time we got out there again, the hive would be empty (dramatic, I know). We finally had a chance to get out to Mega Hive today and really take the time to look through each box. Here are some things we found…. Continue Reading